D. U. Ashurova m. R. Galieva cognitive linguistics

Superordinate level
Basic Level
Furniture	Table, chair, bed, etc.
Vegetation	Tree, bush, grass, etc.
Cutlery	Spoon, fork, knife, etc.
Fruit	Apple, peach, pear, etc.
Footwear	Boots, shoes, sandals, etc.
Hardwear	Tools, machines, computer disks, modems, etc.

The superordinate categories compared to the basic level categories have fewer defining attributes. They include only those attributes which distinguish one particular category from another.
The subordinate level categories have the following characteristics: they are less informative than the basic level terms inasmuch as they include almost all the attributes of the basic level terms. Besides, there are few distinctive attributes distinguishing one category from another. In other words, the lists of attributes relevant to the terms of the basic level differ very little from those relevant to the subordinate level. Usually they are distinguished from the basic level by a single property. For example, CHAIR – ROCKING CHAIR. The terms of the subordinate level are often polymorphemic: teaspoon, bread knife, card-table, dining room, coffee break, sports car, etc.
The prototype approach to categorization requires that the list of attributes (features) for a particular category should be established. However, this appears to be one of the problems with prototype theory inasmuch as it is rather difficult to give the full range of attributes ascribed to a particular category. The following lists of attributes can be given as examples:
Tool – makes things, fixes things, metal;
Clothing – you wear it, keeps you warm
Chair – four legs, seat, holds people, you sit on it;
Horse – can be ridden, neighs, has bones, breathes, has a mane;
Bird – can fly, has two wings, breathes, beak, lays eggs, tails
It should be noted that to give the full range of attributes ascribed to a particular category is rather a difficult task. One way to achieve it was suggested by E. Rosch who used an experimental method. The examinees were given some items of the category of different levels to list all the attributes they could think of. It turned out that lower levels were assumed to have all the attributes listed for higher levels. A large number of attributes were listed at the basic level of categorization. Subordinate categories include the attributes of the basic level and just one or two more specific attributes. For example, “rocking chair” has all the attributes of “CHAIR” including the additional feature “a chair that is built on two curved pieces of wood so that you can move slowly backwards and forwards”. For the superordinate categories the examinees could provide only a minimal number of shared attributes.
Another way to establish the list of attributes, in our opinion, is lexicographical definitional analysis which can reveal the list of attributes peculiar to a particular category. It should be noted that the more frequently particular attributes are given in the definitions of the members of a particular category, the more representative and prototypical they are.
In summing up, the following conclusions can be made:

• 
  conceptualization and categorization are the fundamental mental processes of human cognition and the key notions of the cognitive approach to language;
  
• 
  conceptualization is a mental process of concept formation in the individual’s mind, one of the main processes of human cognitive activity connected with composing knowledge structures on the basis of linguistic data and encyclopedic information;
  
• 
  categorization is a mental process of human taxonomic activity, regulated presentation of various phenomena classified according to their essential category features (attributes);
  
• 
  the new cognitive approach to the problem of categorization is based on the theory of “family resemblance” and prototype theory. “Family resemblance” means that the members of one category are united into one group on the basis of their “family resemblance”, i.e. on the basis of only some similar features, other features being quite different. According to prototype theory categorization is oriented to “the best example” – the prototype that assembles the key attributes that best represent the members of a particular category;
  
• 
  there are different levels of categorization: superordinate, basic and subordinate, which are characterized by relations of inclusiveness.