mental lexicon
- noun
- /ˈmɛntəl ˈlɛksɪkən/
- Specialized
:
léxico mental
- A central issue in the psychology of language concerns the use of context during the retrieval of a word's spelling, pronunciation, and meaning from the mental lexicon.
Examples
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When we listen to a talker in optimal conditions, we can follow what is said on the basis of bottom-up processes that map the speech automatically onto our mental lexicon.
Academic text (2012) -
When communicating, individuals rely on their mental lexicon to quickly access the appropriate words to express their thoughts.
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The influence of word frequency on lexical access suggests that it is fundamentally related to the organization of the mental lexicon.
Academic text (2013) -
Word frequency effects are interesting because they can tell us whether children's mental lexicons are organized according to the same criteria as those of adults.
Academic text (2013) -
A central question for researchers on braille is how linguistic units, such as words, syllables, and morphemes, are stored in the mental lexicon.
Academic text (2007) -
A property of this type of word-recognition model is that the frequency of words determines the base level of activation of a word representation in the mental lexicon.
Academic text (2004) -
The phonetic plan is stored with its word form in the mental lexicon and includes an abstract representation of the stress pattern in the form of a metrical grid.
Academic text (2012) -
As a child learns to speak, they gradually build their mental lexicon by acquiring new words and their meanings.
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In her study on vocabulary development, the researcher examined how children expand their mental lexicon through reading.
Synonyms
106
3.0
All the words and phrases used in a language or by a person
12
7.0
All the words used by a person, language, or field
2
7.7
The words a person knows and uses
How Extensive
- Specialized
106
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derivable from 'mental' (pertaining to the mind) + 'lexicon' (vocabulary repertoire): it refers to the vocabulary stored in a person's mind. This is a literal, compositional combination and is paralleled across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase mental lexicon paints a simple picture: mental means 'in the mind' and lexicon is a word for a 'dictionary' or 'word list'. So mental lexicon is the 'store' of words and their meanings inside your head.