Definition:
(1) The collection of words--the internalized dictionary--that every speaker of the language has. (2) A stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style. See also:
Etymology:
From the Greek, "word, speech"Examples and Observations:
- The lexicon of a stock trader includes terms such as delayed quotes, futures contract, limit order, margin account, short selling, stop order, trend line, and watch list.
- The lexicon of soccer ("football" outside the U.S.) includes terms such as linesman, friendly match, yellow card, penalty shootout, pitch, result, and draw.
- "In a review of findings from language development, language
breakdown and real-time processing, we conclude that the case for a modular distinction between grammar and the lexicon has been overstated, and that the evidence to date is compatible with a unified lexicalist account. Studies of normal children show that the emergence of grammar is highly dependent upon vocabulary size, a finding confirmed and extended in atypical populations. Studies of language breakdown in older children and adults provide no evidence for a modular dissociation between grammar and the lexicon; some structures are especially vulnerable to brain damage (e.g. function words, non-canonical word orders), but this vulnerability is also observed in neurologically intact individuals under perceptual degradation or
cognitive overload. Finally, on-line studies provide evidence for early and intricate interactions between lexical and grammatical information in normal adults."
(Elizabeth Bates and Judith C. Goodman, "On the Inseparability of Grammar and the Lexicon: Evidence from Acquisition, Aphasia and Real-time Processing," Language and Cognitive Processes, 1997)
Pronunciation: LEX-si-kon
Also Known As: lexis
