An Explanation of the Polysemy in View of the Prototype Theory

This paper mainly discusses how polysemy comes into existence,which is illustrated in view of prototype theory.Conclusions are drawn that a polysemic word constitutes a semantic category with its primary meaning as the prototype.The other members in that category are derived from it,exhibiting a family resemblance and degrees of typicality as well.With the extension of the semantic category,prototypical categories are blurred at the edges and begin to intersect another semantic category.