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by bradrn 1699 days ago
Words with this range of meaning are simply called ‘noun classifiers’ in linguistics [0]. They’re pretty common both in the region and outside it: they’re also in Lao, Hmong and Minangkabau, as well as various Australian, Mayan and South American languages.

[0] Aikhenvald 2003, chapeter 3: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/classifiers-97801992...