Glossary:Category

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Entry Category
Other Aliases Conceptual Category
Description Categories are conceptual units, structured internally by prototype-extension relations among its members (ranging in inclusivity from prototypical to peripheral) and externally by taxonomic relations between categories. Categorization about the world happens via inductive reasoning. Because categories are formed for things that are relevant, or “matter”, to the people of a community, the meanings of most categories tend to be vague and fleeting, and the borderlines between categories are fuzzy.

Categories occur in hierarchies, with superordinate-subordinate relations according to saliency, and in particular whole-part relations. Basic level categories are conceptually more salient than categories at the higher and lower levels, and tend to elicit the most responses and richest images because they provide the most maximally necessary information. Most categories have a prototype structure, and as such categories are understood in terms of their prototypes. This inherent superordinate-subordinate relation gives rise naturally to metonymy.

Pertinent form(s) Metaphor & Frame
Utility General Theory
Notation
Created by Karie (February 2015)
Edited by
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Facts about "Category"
Entered byKarie (February 2015) +
Glossary.AliasConceptual Category +
Glossary.Applies toMetaphor & Frame +
Glossary.DescriptionCategories are conceptual units, structure
Categories are conceptual units, structured internally by prototype-extension relations among its members (ranging in inclusivity from prototypical to peripheral) and externally by taxonomic relations between categories. Categorization about the world happens via inductive reasoning. Because categories are formed for things that are relevant, or “matter”, to the people of a community, the meanings of most categories tend to be vague and fleeting, and the borderlines between categories are fuzzy. Categories occur in hierarchies, with superordinate-subordinate relations according to saliency, and in particular whole-part relations. Basic level categories are conceptually more salient than categories at the higher and lower levels, and tend to elicit the most responses and richest images because they provide the most maximally necessary information. Most categories have a prototype structure, and as such categories are understood in terms of their prototypes. This inherent superordinate-subordinate relation gives rise naturally to metonymy.
relation gives rise naturally to metonymy. +
Glossary.EntryCategory +
Glossary.UtilityGeneral Theory +