On classifiers and affect in the nominal domain: Organizing 'disorganization'

This chapter presents six case studies on the encoding of affective-expressive information in the Dutch nominal domain. Each affective phenomenon that is discussed, displays a formal property that, from a surface perspective, could be qualified as ‘disorganizing.’ It is proposed that disorganization is only apparent and that the affective-expressive nominal expression has an organized structure that falls within the variation space as defined by UG. It is the different formal organization, compared to the organization of nominal expressions with descriptive contents, which yields ‘the feel of disorganization.’ The availability of different grammatical routes provided by UG allows the language user to use her language for distinct communicative functions, including the expression of one’s affective feelings. It is proposed that the Classifier Projection plays an important role in the manifestation of those routes.