基于原型理论的名称意义再范畴化

The Recategorization of the Meaning of Names——Based on Prototype Theory

关于名称的意义,现代语言哲学家主要持两种观点:名称有意义论和名称无意义论。建立在摹状词理论基础上的名称有意义论认为一切名称,无论是专名还是通名,都有各自的内涵并且其内涵实质上是一些缩略的摹状词或伪装的摹状词;名称无意义论认为名称是固定指号,而摹状词是非固定指号,固定指号无意义,名称和所指对象是通过因果起源和历史链条联系的。用现代认知语言学的原型范畴理论来审视,如果以是否形成概念作为名称有无意义的标准,那么通名有意义,而专名由于范畴内存在不同类型的成员,可分两种情况:典型成员无意义,非典型成员有意义。

The issue as to whether names are meaningful is quite controversial.Some philosophers hold that a name,be it a proper name or a general name,has meaning,which equals to a group of descriptions about the entity it refers to;while others argue that both proper names and natural kind terms are meaningless,because they are rigid designators,which are different from descriptions as non-rigid designators.A name＇s referent is fixed by an original act of naming,and the later uses of the name succeed in referring to the referent by being linked to that original act via a causal chain.This paper analyzes the issue from a cognitive perspective,holding that meaning stems from concept.Whether a name is meaningful or not depends on whether it can conjure a concept.From this point of view,general names are meaningful,while proper names can be meaningful or meaningless,because the members of the category of proper name vary from one to another in terms of conceptualization.