Towards a Prototypical Structuring of the Binary Categorization of Word Classes

Abstract

This work develops from the observation that the categorizations of contemporary linguistic approaches, particularly functionalism and generativism, seem to be based on the Aristotelian and classical perspective, which considers categories as discrete entities with rigid boundaries. Unfortunately, this conception of categories presents shortcomings when assigning elements with cross-category features to a specific category. As evidence, while it is defended within the framework of functional grammar that the preposition is a grammatical category, generativist authors consider it rather as a lexical category. Faced with this type of discrepancy, this work focuses on the theoretical postulates of cognitive linguistics, particularly the theory of prototypes, to structure the two major words categories. To do this, we first provide a brief literature review of previous categorization models. Subsequently, we present the deficiencies of contemporary approaches, especially those of the functionalist and generativist linguistic traditions. Finally, in line with the categorization model of cognitive linguistics, we propose a prototypical structuring of the two main word categories and, in an exploratory manner, contrast three word classes—adjective, verb, and preposition—whose categorical status is frequently debated in grammars, in order to highlight their degree of family resemblance and, therefore, determine their membership in a given category.