 Historically , 个 gè was not always the general classifier . Some believe it was originally a noun referring to bamboo stalks , and gradually expanded in use to become a classifier for many things with " vertical , individual , [ or ] upright <unk> [ ies ] " , eventually becoming a general classifier because it was used so frequently with common nouns . The classifier gè is actually associated with three different homophonous characters : 个 , 個 ( used today as the traditional @-@ character equivalent of 个 ) , and 箇 . Historical linguist <unk> Wang has argued that these characters actually originated from different words , and that only 箇 had the original meaning of " bamboo stalk " . 个 , she claims , was used as a general classifier early on , and may have been derived from the <unk> similar 介 jiè , one of the earliest general classifiers . 箇 later merged with 介 because they were similar in pronunciation and meaning ( both used as general classifiers ) . Likewise , she claims that 個 was also a separate word ( with a meaning having to do with " partiality " or " being a single part " ) , and merged with 个 for the same reasons as 箇 did ; she also argues that 個 was " created " , as early as the Han Dynasty , to supersede 个 . 
