Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: On the forerunners of non-essentialism in linguistics and philosophy -- Chapter 2: Prototype-oriented linguistics - a non-essentialist linguistics of today -- Chapter 3: General semantics, Popper and prototype-oriented linguistics - an attempt at integration -- Chapter 4: Toward a view of non-essentialist sociolinguistics -- Chapter 5: Non-essentialist sociolinguistics - two examples -- Chapter 6: On the social consequences of adopting some essentialist/ non-essentialist philosophical tenets -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Index of names -- Index of concepts