The Universality of Semantic Prototypes in Spanish Lexical Availability

Authors

  • Marjana Šifrar Kalan University of Ljubljana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/vh.24.1.147-165

Keywords:

semantic prototypes, lexical availability, prototype theory, most available words, Spanish as a foreign language

Abstract

The article presents the words with highest index of availability on the basis of semantic fluency tests. The conceptual stability of highly available words in various semantic categories enables them to be classified as semantic prototypes according to the theory of prototype. The aim of this article is to compare the semantic prototypes in nine semantic categories from different lexical availability studies: those carried out in Spanish as a mother tongue and Spanish as a foreign language (with Slovene, Finnish, Turkish, Chinese students and students of various other mother tongues who studied Spanish in Madrid and Salamanca). The informants who come from different countries and cultures and speak different first languages demonstrate that human beings share the same or similar categorization and universality of semantic prototypes.

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Author Biography

Marjana Šifrar Kalan, University of Ljubljana

Es profesora titular de Didáctica de español/lengua extranjera en el Departamento de Lenguas y Literaturas Romances en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Ljubljana. Es formadora de profesores de lenguas extranjeras y ha impartido cursos para profesores dentro de la Consejería Nacional de Educación de Eslovenia, el Centro Nacional de Exámenes de Eslovenia y el Centro de Educación Pedagógica de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Es (co)autora de varios libros y artículos sobre la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera. Ha escrito numerosas reseñas para los manuales de ELE para la enseñanza reglada en Eslovenia. Sus campos de investigación se refieren al aprendizaje/enseñanza de vocabulario, disponibilidad léxica, estrategias de aprendizaje, desarrollo de la expresión oral, examinación y evaluación, y formación de profesores.

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Published

29.12.2016

How to Cite

Šifrar Kalan, M. (2016). The Universality of Semantic Prototypes in Spanish Lexical Availability. Verba Hispanica, 24(1), 147–165. https://doi.org/10.4312/vh.24.1.147-165

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 1 (2016)

Section

Linguistics

License

Copyright (c) 2017 Marjana Šifrar Kalan

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