| This page is part of the ongoing |
| Project Categorization |
| Aristotelian category |
| Categorization |
| Category |
| Category boundaries |
| Fuzziness |
| Vagueness |
| Levels of categorization |
| Basic level |
| Category-wide attribute |
| Collective function |
| Subordinate level |
| Superordinate level |
| Parasitic categorization |
| Prototype category |
| Bad member |
| Degree of membership |
| Extension |
| Flexible adaptability |
| Goodness of exemplar |
| Good member |
| Informational density |
| Inheritance |
| Radial structure |
| Structural stability |
| Taxonomy |
| Class inclusion |
| Degree of generality |
| Expert taxonomy |
| Folk taxonomy |
| Multiple parenting |
| Scientific taxonomy |
Informational density is a principle of cognitive economy, posed by Dirk Geeraerts as a basic aspect of prototype categorization. The principle holds that it is easiest to store as much information as possible in the same category, and easiest to retrieve information from the same category as well, in stead of having to look for it in a lot of different categories. This principle should account for the high ammount of polysemy in human languages.
Bibliography[]
- Geeraerts, Dirk (1997). Diachronic Prototype Semantics: a Contribution to Historical Lexicology. Oxford: Clarendon Press.