Semantics:Prototypes

PROTOTYPES

Prototype is the most characteristic instance of a category. While the words canary, cormorant, dove, duck, flamingo, parrot, pelican and robin are all equally co-hyponyms of the superordinate bird, they are not all considered to be equally good examples of the category “bird.” According to some researchers, the most characteristic instance of the category “bird” is robin. The concept of a prototype helps explain the meaning of certain words, like bird, not in terms of component features (e.g. “has feathers,” “has wings”), but in terms of resemblance to the clearest example. Given the category label furniture, we are quick to recognize chair as a better example than bench or stool. Given clothing, people recognize shirts quicker than shoes, and given vegetable, they accept carrot before potato or tomato. It is clear that there is some general pattern to the categorization process involved in prototypes and that it determines our interpretation of word meaning.