An Empirical Study On Application Of Prototype Theory To English Polysemy

It is of great importance to learn polysemies in college English teaching. Basedon the cognitive theory, the thesis made an explanation for the existence of polysemyby adopting the view of prototype theory, and analyzed the reasons and devices ofpolysemy phenomenon.According to prototype theory, several meaning items of a word evolved fromprototype item, and shows degrees of family resemblance and degrees of membershipto the prototype. Explanation of polysemy can make students realize the inherent andsubstantial connection among different meanings, and know the rule of wordsdevelopment. With the knowledge of metaphor and metonymy, students can knowabout the cause and devices of word development. By the very time of an empiricalstudy, the conclusion would be drawn like this: English vocabulary teaching based onprototype theory can significantly improve English vocabulary learning.