We conceptualize objects based on sensorimotor information
gleaned from real-world experience. To what extent is
conceptual information structured according to higher-level
linguistic features? We investigate whether classifiers, a
grammatical category, shape the conceptual representations of
objects. In three experiments native Mandarin speakers (a
classifier language) and native Dutch speakers (a language
without classifiers) judged the similarity of a target object with
four objects (presented as words or pictures). One object shared a
classifier with the target, the other objects did not. Overall, the
target object was judged as more similar to the object with the
shared classifier than distractor objects in both Dutch and
Mandarin speakers, with no difference between the two
languages. Thus, even speakers of a non-classifier language are
sensitive to object similarities underlying classifier systems, and
using a classifier system does not exaggerate these similarities.
This suggests that classifier systems reflect, rather than affect,
conceptual structure.