制约事件名词与量词组合的因素有名量距离、量词种类、量词的词语功能等。语料库调查显示, 事件名词对量词小类的选择有不同的优先等级, 而这跟不同类别量词所具有的语义特征有密切关系。如果用[+时间性]的有无与高低来衡量, 传统区分的动量词、时量词其实可细化为7个等级的连续统, 并由低至高形成4个层级。名量词也可按[+空间性]([-时间性])的强弱分出5个等级。总体来看, 事件名词倾向于选择时间不强也不弱, 即时间性居中的动量词、时量词或名量词小类。

The factors conditioning a combination of event noun and classifier include the distance between event noun and classifier, the subcategory and the function of classifier.The research based on a large-scale corpus shows that the selection has various preferences, which depends on the semantic feature of classifier.According to [+timeliness], the action classifier and timeliness classifier can constitute a continuum of seven kinds at four levels.The nominal classifier can be divided into five kinds.To sum up, the event noun has a strong tendency of combination with the medium [+timeliness] classifier subcategory.