An Analysis of the Relevance of Categorization and the Prominence of Basic Level Categories in Written Texts

Term Paper (Advanced seminar) , 2005 , 37 Pages , Grade: 2,3

English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics

In this seminar paper I want to explain what categorization is and I also want to point out the importance of basic level categories for this process. The chapters dealing with these issues are meant to lay the theoretical basis for this seminar paper.
In the other chapters I intend to discuss the results that a research project developed by Prof. Dr. Amei Koll-Stobbe yielded. As it was a project that was based on texts written by several informants, the discussion of the results will often refer to the texts which are attached to the paper. The hypothesis here is then that we can also show the existence and relevance of categories in written texts.
Several aspects that linguists regard as relevant for the topic of categorization will be examined using the data of the research project as a basis. The most important aspect will be how the basic level category influences language use. Other aspects will be discussed in the analysis of the texts in the fourth chapter because it might be useful to illustrate several aspects of lesser importance using the informants’ texts.
It also needs to be mentioned that the corpus of data that has been collected is comparatively small (texts from 12 informants) and that therefore limits regarding the value of the analysis of the data must be considered. Some aspects that might be interesting for categorization processes cannot be examined due to the limited number of informants, at all.
Nevertheless, it will hopefully be possible to draw some general conclusions about the use of categories and the special cognitive and linguistic prominence of basic level categories.

Table of Contents

• Introduction.
• What is categorization?
• The cognitive and linguistic prominence of basic level categories.
• Analysis and discussion of the informants' texts
  • Outline of the research study “shoes”.
  • Analysis of the texts: General aspects.
  • The importance of the basic level category in the informants' texts....
• Conclusion.
• Bibliography.
• Attachments: Texts written by the informants
  • Informant 1 (female, 26) ..
  • Informant 2 (female, 23).
  • Informant 3 (female, 24) ..
  • Informant 4 (female, 25)
  • Informant 5 (female, 20)
  • Informant 6 (female, 25) ..
  • Informant 7 (female, 27).
  • Informant 8 (male,)...
  • Informant 9 (male, 24) ..
  • Informant 10 (male, 22).
  • Informant 11 (male, 23) ..
  • Informant 12 (male,).....

Objectives and Key Themes

This seminar paper aims to investigate the significance of categorization, specifically focusing on the prominence of basic level categories in written texts. The paper examines the extent to which categorization, as described in cognitive linguistics, is evident in real-world text samples. Key themes explored in the paper include:

• The cognitive process of categorization and its impact on language use.
• The concept of basic level categories and their relevance in both cognitive and linguistic domains.
• An analysis of written texts to demonstrate the presence and importance of categorization.
• The influence of basic level categories on the linguistic choices made by writers.
• The limitations of the research project based on a relatively small corpus of data.

Chapter Summaries

• The introduction provides an overview of the topic of categorization and its relevance in cognitive linguistics. It also introduces the research project that forms the basis of the paper and outlines the objectives and key themes.
• The second chapter defines categorization and explores its role in organizing our understanding of the world. It emphasizes the frequent use of categories in everyday language and cognition.
• The third chapter delves into the cognitive and linguistic prominence of basic level categories. It discusses how these categories are central to our conceptual organization and how they impact our language use.
• The fourth chapter presents an analysis of texts written by informants, focusing on the importance of the basic level category in those texts. This chapter aims to demonstrate the practical application of categorization theory to real-world language use.

Keywords

This seminar paper centers around the concepts of categorization, basic level categories, cognitive linguistics, and written language analysis. The study draws on examples from written texts to investigate the role of these concepts in shaping language use.

• College: Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (Institut für Anglistik / Amerikanistik)
• Course: Discursive Linguistics
• Grade: 2,3
• Author: Stefan Ruhnke (Author)
• Publication Year: 2005
• Pages: 37
• Catalog Number: V74342
• ISBN (eBook): 9783638712996
• Language: English
• Tags: Analysis, Relevance, Categorization, Prominence, Basic, Level, Categories, Written, Texts, Discursive, Linguistics