영어 핵심어휘의 특성과 원형이론

This paper examined various syntactic, phonological, morphological characteristics of core vocabulary in English. The study also investigated how grasping the meaning involves knowing the prototype, and the ranking of items in relation to it. Advantages and problems of the prototype theory were presented and discussed. Core relates to meanings of a particular word which are most central, primary, or invariant. A prototype is a best instance example of a concept. The distinction between core and non-core vocabulary is an important feature of the basic structure of the lexicon of a language. It is useful framework for discussing stylistic and expressive effects in vocabulary use. When humans group objects into categories, they set up a prototype - the most typical example. The prototype theory has implications that when people grasp the meaning of a word, they automatically activate their subconscious ranking system. The findings of this study show that core words are distributed over a range of different spoken and written text. They tend to be more irregular. Core words serve the needs of the most general expression. Core vocabulary has greater relevance to teaching vocabulary in the initial rather than advanced stages of language learning. Prototype theory explains how people cope with extended usages and metaphor. It also raises a few questions about how prototypes are acquired. Understanding the prototype is in fact a more complex process than was once thought, since prototype effects may have different causes.