论语义范畴的家族相似性

On the family resemblance of semantic categories

本文阐述了人类的类属划分对语义模糊的影响,并论证了人类的类属划分具有生理和文化的基础以及由类属划分所得到的语义范畴具有“家族相似性”和模糊性。在评述了Wittgenstein等学者的原型范畴理论的基础上,本文提出了一个建立在Leech(1983)的折衷语义分析模式基础之上的改进型原型语义分析模式。

This paper illuminates the effects of human categorization on semantic fuzziness. It argues that human categorization has physiological and cultural foundations, and that semantic categories, arising from categorization, are endowed with the attributes of family resemblance and fuzziness. Having surveyed the cognitive approaches to semantic categories made by L. Wittgenstein, E. Rosch and J. Aitchison etc. , it proposes a new model with which the study of meaning can refrain itself from going to extremes, and become more adequate and effective in explaining both the fuzziness and abstractness of semantic categories.