1. The Classical Approach to Categorization
Taylor 2
The Classical Approach to Categorization

2. 2.1 Aristotelian Categorization
Aristotle distinguished between:
The essence of a thing
Its necessary and sufficient features
Vs.
The accidents of a thing
Its other features

3. Aristotle’s distinction yields 4 assumptions:
1) Categories are defined in terms of necessary and sufficient features
2) Features are binary
3) Categories have clear boundaries
4) All members of a category have equal status

4. 2.2 The classical approach in linguistics: phonology
[CAVEAT: Some of the assumptions listed below no longer hold; newer theories (especially Optimality Theory) have moved away from them]
Phonological feature analysis added the following assumptions:
5) Features are primitive

5. 2.2 The classical approach in linguistics: phonology, cont’d.
6) Features are universal
Each language selects features from a fixed finite inventory
7) Features are abstract
Features are conceptual, not necessarily measurable in terms of physics, they are mental representations

6. 2.2 The classical approach in linguistics: phonology, cont’d.
8) Features are innate
The universal inventory must be genetically inherited
This is the most controversial assumption

7. 2.3 The classical approach in semantics
Some have adopted a parallel feature approach to syntax & semantics
Features do capture significant generalizations (natural classes) and do facilitate analysis of certain kinds of sentence meanings (entailment, inclusion, contradiction)

8. 2.3 The classical approach in semantics
This line of reasoning has inspired the postulation of a universal set of primitive semantic features, “building blocks of human thought” (cf. Wierzbicka)
Semantic features do not stand for and are not learnable from any “physical properties and relations outside the human organism” – it is necessary to assume that the set of universal features is genetically inherited.

9. 2.3 The classical approach in semantics
Distinguishes between
Reference:
Designation of entities in the world
Vs.
Sense:
The set of relations which hold between the item in question and other items in the same lexical system

10. Questions about Classical Approaches
Do all members of a category share necessary and sufficient features?
Are words reducible to semantic primitives?
Can we distinguish between linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge?
Can one know the meaning of a word without being familiar with the relevant real-world facts?