The world through the prism of language: a cross-linguistic view of genders, noun classes, and classifiers

澳大利亚是世界上语言最多、文化最多元的国家之一，有数百种土著和移民语言。名词分类工具--从熟悉的印欧语中的性别系统到东南亚语言中的数字量词--为人们对周围世界的分类提供了独特的见解。深入了解说不同语言的人如何对他们周围的物体进行分类，将促进澳大利亚国内和世界范围内的跨文化理解，使我们能够克服由于不同语言背景而可能产生的沟通失误，并增进我们对该地区和世界的了解(在国家优先事项“保护澳大利亚”范围内)。

Australia is one of the most multilingual and multicultural countries in the world, with several hundred indigenous and immigrant languages. Noun classification devices - ranging from gender systems in familiar Indo-European languages to numeral classifiers in Southeast Asian languages - offer a unique insight into people's categorisation of the world around them. In-depth knowledge of how speakers of different languages classify objects around them will promote intercultural understanding within Australia and world-wide, allowing us to overcome potential miscommunications due to different language backgrounds, and advancing our understanding of the region and the world (within the National Priority 'Safeguarding Australia').