COGNITIVE THEORY OF CATEGORIZATION, AS EXEMPLIFIED ON JAPANESE MATERIAL

Abstract: After an introduction to theoretical distinctions between traditional Aristotelian and contemporary cognitive approach to the process of human categorization, and a demonstration of the advantages of the cognitive approach, the paper goes on to discuss Japanese data which exemplify mental processes underlying the formation of conceptual categories and their mapping onto linguistic structures. Japanese classifiers are discussed in the context of cognitive phenomena such as conceptual metaphor and metonymy, conventional mental images, imageschema transformation, multiple motivation, and the phenomenon of chaining structures. The final section discusses the conceptual category self in Japanese, specifically the ability of society and culture to impose a meaning frame within which a given category will be used.