Exemplification and categorization: the case of Japanese

This research investigates the linguistic coding and functions of exemplifying constructions (i.e., linguistic constructions that signify exemplification), with a special focus on their role in constructing on-line contextually relevant categories at the cognitive level (cf. Barsalou 1983, 2010, Mauri 2016). More specifically, we argue that exemplifying constructions are used as overt strategies to make explicit the online construction of conceptual categories, allowing the hearer to identify relevant exemplars as starting points for inferential and abstraction processes.