Explanation
A category groups objects, events or other units under some criterion. Grouping may follow explicit conditions or orient itself towards typical cases in use. Membership and typicality are different questions: an unusual member need not be only partly a member. The category, the concept used to think about it and the word used to name it must also be distinguished analytically. This entry leaves room for competing accounts rather than building a particular theory of concepts into the general label category.
Movement of thought
1. State the purpose of classification. 2. Examine possible members. 3. Make membership criteria explicit. 4. Elicit typicality judgements separately. 5. Use borderline cases to test the model.
Scientific use case
Experiments can analyse membership judgements separately from response times for typical and atypical examples.
Example
An administrative category groups all applications received on Monday. Similarity of subject matter is irrelevant to that rule.
Counterexample
A highly typical bird is not therefore a more complete member of a biological class than an unusual bird.
Distinction
Distinguish a category, its members, its label and a theoretical account of categorisation.
Effect on thought and perception
The distinction prevents a good example from being mistaken for a definition.
Resonance
Order emerges through grouping; its boundaries reveal the criterion at work.
Provenance
Parallel source review reconciled 2026-10-07; human specialist review not claimed.
Cite this entry
Reich, Michael (Hrsg./ed.): „Category“. Atlas der Sprache, AT-NAV-G03-031. ATLAS 259, data model 1.6.0. https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-NAV-G03-031The address remains stable; editorial content may evolve. Editorial reading state: 2026-10-15. Include your access date for precise references.