classifier (n.) (CL, class)

In GRAMMAR, a morpheme whose function is to indicate the formal or SEMANTIC CLASS to which items belong is sometimes called a classifier, e.g. -ly is an ADVERB classifier, -ess is a ‘femininity’ classifier. The marking of LEXICAL items as belonging to the same semantic class is an important feature of many languages (e.g. Chinese, Vietnamese, Hopi), and sometimes quite unexpected bases of classifications are found, in terms of shape, size, colour, movability, animacy, status, and so on.

In SIGN-language studies, a term used for a handshape which functions PRONOMINALLY for a class of objects, e.g. ‘vehicle’.