Zasady kategoryzacji
PRINCIPLES OF CATEGORIZATION

Summary/Abstract: The authoress' work belongs to new cognitivist classics and constitutes the point of reference for a number of cognitively-oriented studies of language. The first part deals with the principles of categorization (the principle of economy and the principle of preserving the structures in the perceived world), which have a vertical dimension (dog - mammal - animal - living creature) and a horizontal dimension (dog, cat). In the vertical arrangement, one of the levels exhibits an especially high 'cue validity' and 'categorial resemblance'. This is the basic level, e.g. 'chair' in the series 'furniture - chair - kitchen chair'. Objects at this level share attributes, are used in the same way and look similar. Terms at the basic level are acquired first and used most frequently. The third and fourth part of the article deal with the horizontal dimension of categorization and with the process of structuring categories through prototypes. A description of an operational understanding of prototypicality is attempted. Finally, an analysis is offered of attributes, functions and contexts of objects as artifacts in culture-determined events.

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