基于原型范畴理论的原型成员延伸问题(英文)

Abstract: Both of the Prototype Theory and the Basic Level Category were considered as  the cornerstones of cognitive linguistics. The Prototype members, which named in Prototype Theory, is the most prominent representative within one defined category and all the other members in this category share the same family similarities with it. Based on the exploration of the prototype members while aimed at the uncertain prototype members and the category edge fuzziness, I clearly introduced the great effect of the Prototype Theory and the Basic Level Category Theory when solving these issues in this context. What’s more, after a preliminary exploration for their theoretical roles in guiding English vocabulary acquisition, it was pointed out that more attention should be paid to the basic-lever words’ original meaning and keep learning under an effective and scientific way by following the cognitive rule.

Key word: Prototype ; Extension; Basic Level Category; Compromise Model；Vocabulary Acquisition

摘 要: 原型范畴理论和基本层次范畴是认知语言学的基石.原型范畴理论所说的原型就是一个概念范畴或语言范畴中最具有突显性,代表性的成员,又称原型成员.一个范畴中的所有其他成员与原型成员具有家族相似性.本文从原型成员出发,针对原型成员延伸过程中出现的原型不确定性及范畴边缘模糊性问题,介绍了原型范畴理论和基本层次范畴在解决上述问题时的巨大效应.并在此基础上,初步探索了其对于英语词汇习得的理论指导作用,指出应该重视基本范畴词汇以及词汇的原型意义.遵循认知规律,科学有效地学习英语词汇.

关键词: 原型范畴; 延伸；基本层次范畴; 折衷模式；词汇习得

Introduction
Category plays an important role in human cognition. “Without the category ability, we simply impossible play any role in the outside world in social life as well as spiritual life”, Aristotle is the earliest Western philosophy scholar who carries on the system elaboration to the category [1]. The Classical Category Theory which takes the Aristotelian logic as the foundation hold the standpoint that a complex concept may finally analyzed into several dual primitive characters. And one cognition object can only belong to some category or not. A category’s complete member shares certain characteristics and equal status. The category boundary is clear.
This theory once considered as axiom while now it has met powerful challenge from pragmatism, philosophy and cognitive science[2].Professor ROSCH, a psychologist from University of California- Berkeley Branch, first advanced the Prototype Theory. This theory stems from the philosophy, anthropology and cognitive psychology theory and then become the cornerstone of cognitive linguistics as well as a hot spot which the present domestic and foreign linguist studies on. It provided the brand-new vision and method to the division and the nature limits, but still had many problems. For instance, where comes from the most representative characteristic of the prototype members? What are the similarities and differences between the Prototype Theory and the Basic Level Category?
Currently, very few domestic scholars had deep research in this academic area, thus, if we want to give a reasonable and convincing explanation, we must have a further research on the inner cognition mechanism and rule in the perspective of psychology, philosophy and linguistics.

1  Brief introduction of the Prototype Theory
The Prototype Theory, a branch of cognitive linguistic, completely criticized the classical category theory which Aristotle advanced 2000 years ago[3]. It’s proposed experienced two stages. The first stage is to put the semantic context of Wittgenstein's ‘Family Resemblance’ principle. The second stage is LABOVE and ROSCH proposed “the prototype category” based on the "Family Resemblance" principle.
To study the Prototype Theory, we should first come to the prototype members.
1. 1 Prototype Members
The study begins in the color category.。The anthropologist Berlin & Kay has carried on an investigation to 98 languages in 1969, not only has discovered the basic colors in different languages but also discovered the most representative color in some color category[4]. People have these, the representative colors; act as the localization reference points and namely them as the focal colors. It is used to carry on a segmentation and categorization to those non-individual colors. In the 1970s the US psychologist ROSCH carried on an exploration on the psychological background of the focal colors, discovered that the focal colors came more prominent on the perception than the non-focal colors. It shows that the focal color was stemmed from the pre-linguistic cognition while its prominence came from the sensation to colors through human visual organ.
The study on focal colors expanded to the other 10 kinds of objects just like bird, fruit, furniture, weapon and so on.  ROSCH had discovered the similar phenomenon that is the category was built by taking the prototype members as the core. The prototype members which  placed in the central of category often possess the ideal value ,the biggest discrimination and the most information content and are also the most familiar and common things to human being at  most of the time. In other words, the prototype member is the most important reference that determines the other members in the category. It also considered as the most believable evidence in establishing and cognizing a category. No prototype members, there will be no category. 转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net