míng 名
go_manly
February 27, 2010 at 01:29 AM posted in I Have a QuestionIn what cases do we use 名 as a measure word for people? I have seen it used for 运动员 (yùndòngyuán) and 工人 (gōngrén). Can 位 be used in these cases (or other MWs). Does 名 convey any extra meaning?
changye
February 27, 2010 at 02:06 AM
I think “一个小偷” is more commonly used than “一名小偷”, probably because “名” is a little more formal than “个”.
go_manly
February 27, 2010 at 01:53 AM
Thanks, that makes sense. So is 名 the usual measure word you would use with a thief?
changye
February 27, 2010 at 01:44 AM
Hi go_manly
You can say, for example, 一位医生 (one doctor), and it carries respectful connotation. On the other hand, “名” is neutral. So you can say “一名小偷” (one thief), but not “一位小偷”.
xiaophil
February 27, 2010 at 12:35 AM
I think it can be used for enrolled students too, e.g. this school has 400 students enrolled as Chemistry majors. Wish I could confirm that, but I have to get off the internet...
xiaophil
February 27, 2010 at 02:10 AM
I don't think that 名 is exclusively a word for tallying, but that is the tendency. As your example shows, there are other ways of using it.
go_manly
February 27, 2010 at 02:07 AM
OK, but one of the expansion sentences in the lesson 'Athlete Injuries' is:
听说他是一名运动员。(Tīngshuō tā shì yì míng yùndòngyuán.) I hear that he is an athlete.
This doesn't have a sense of tallying. Is it the most natural MW to use here?
xiaophil
February 27, 2010 at 01:59 AM
I just did a google search for '名学生' and it turned up 15,300,00 hits, so I think its safe to assume that is okay.
I notice that it is also very common with 运动员 (athletes).
I think the key to 名 is that it is usually used to tally numbers. "We have 'this many' students/employees/athletes."
Anyone agree or disagree with this?
changye
February 27, 2010 at 01:07 AMHi xiaophil
The measure word "名" is used in combination with occupation names such as 医生，工人，科学家，and 学生. So you usually don't say “三名朋友”, for example.