Word Classes and Gradience

Abstract

Abstract For a long time, word classes (and categories in general) were assumed to be well delineated, distinguishable on the basis of well-defined features, and with strict boundaries between them. In the course of the twentieth century, this classical view of categorization came to be challenged, first in philosophy and psychology, and subsequently also in linguistics. What emerged was a gradience approach to categorization, which also affected the way linguists looked at word classes. After a brief introduction, the chapter sketches the background against which this alternative view on linguistic categorization developed. The chapter then presents some of the most important evidence (synchronic and diachronic) for the existence of gradience within and between word classes. The chapter ends with a brief overview of how linguists from different linguistic backgrounds have dealt with the non-discrete nature of word classes, the kinds of definitions they have provided, and the explanations they have offered for the gradience observed.

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