Factors That Account for the Formation of Prototype From the Perspective of Sociolinguistics

Abstract

The study of prototype has been an interesting subject for the scholars in psycholinguistics. But some sociolinguistic scholars also advocated that the study of prototype theory can not be separated from the perspective of sociolinguistics, for the prototype affects the way people talk in different situations and the social differences play an significant role in the formation of prototype. These social factors are the deep social structure that ultimately influences our linguistic behaviors. Using the theories related to categorization to analyze the these social differences, we can find out the reasons for the differences, which mainly contain culture, living environment, scientific development, living experience and age.