Using prototype theory to determine the ordinary meaning of words

Abstract

The interpretation of words in case law is often a central focal point, especially when the ordinary meaning of words is contested. One of the more popular ways to determine the ordinary meaning of words is by looking it up in a dictionary. Even though dictionaries are valid resources for this task, alternative resources should also be considered. Prototype theory is a well-known linguistic approach whereby a category’s best exemplar or typical member is identified. Meaning can be found on three different levels, that is the superordinate, the basic level and the subordinate. We find prototypes mostly on the basic level and it is also on this level that we often find ordinary meaning. Therefore, it should be equally helpful to determine and study the prototypicality of contested words. Furthermore, by studying a contested word’s proximity in relation to the prototype, we can tell to what extent we are dealing with that word’s ordinary meaning and what this ordinary meaning consists of. In this note, the authors want to introduce South African legal scholars and practitioners to prototype theory and they will demonstrate two possible methods to determine the prototypes of concrete categories.