КАТЕҐОРИЗАЦИЯ И ТЕОРИЯ ПРОТОТИПОХ НА МАТЕРИЯЛУ КАТЕҐОРИЙОХ ДОМАШНЇХ ЖИВОТИНЬОХ У ЯЗИКУ РУСНАЦОХ У ВОЙВОДИНИ
CATEGORIZATION AND PROTOTYPE THEORY: DOMESTIC ANIMAL CATEGORIES IN VOJVODINA RUTHENIAN

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with some of the key topics in cognitive linguistics—categorization and prototype theory. Attitudes towards these concepts have evolved from an understanding of categories in the ancient times as strictly organized entities (categories are defined as a set of necessary and sufficient characteristics; the features of category members are binary; categories have clear boundaries; all category members have equal status), to a cognitive understanding of categories, influenced primarily by the research of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Eleanor Rosch. Relying on the theoretical assumptions of research in cognitive linguistics, we conducted a study of domestic animal categories at the levels of phraseology, nomination and association. The results of this study show that the prototypical member of the category DOMESTIC ANIMALS is the dog. This category is superordinate to the categories LIVESTOCK, POULTRY and PETS. The prototypical member of the category LIVESTOCK is the domestic animal cow. On the periphery of this category are the goat, the sheep, the horse, the donkey and the pig. The most recognizable typical member of the category POULTRY is the chicken. Less recognizable members include the goose, the turkey, the duck, the rooster and the rabbit. This study confirms the cognitive linguistic view of categories. The prototypical members of the category DOMESTIC ANIMAL have changed over time from the cow and the horse to the contemporary view of the dog as the most prominent member of the category. Some members of these categories are increasingly less recognized as members of the respective categories, while new members appear only as part of the contemporary image of the world of Vojvodina Ruthenians.

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