 Most modern count @-@ classifiers are derived from words that originally were free @-@ standing nouns in older varieties of Chinese , and have since been grammaticalized to become bound morphemes . In other words , count @-@ classifiers tend to come from words that once had specific meaning but lost it ( a process known as semantic bleaching ) . Many , however , still have related forms that work as nouns all by themselves , such as the classifier <unk> ( <unk> ) dài for long , ribbon @-@ like objects : the modern word <unk> <unk> means " ribbon " . In fact , the majority of classifiers can also be used as other parts of speech , such as nouns . Mass @-@ classifiers , on the other hand , are more transparent in meaning than count @-@ classifiers ; while the latter have some historical meaning , the former are still full @-@ fledged nouns . For example , <unk> ( <unk> , cup ) , is both a classifier as in <unk> ( yì <unk> <unk> , " a cup of tea " ) and the word for a cup as in <unk> ( <unk> , " wine glass " ) . 
