MENTAL LEXICON Meaning and
Definition
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The mental lexicon refers to an individual's internal mental repository of words and their associated meanings that are stored and accessed in one's mind. It is essentially an individual's personal vocabulary that consists of all the words they have learned and retained over time. Within the mental lexicon, words are not isolated entities but are interconnected, with various relationships and associations forming a complex web.
The mental lexicon encompasses not only the meanings of words but also their phonological representations, syntactic properties, and even emotional connotations. Every word in the mental lexicon is stored with various attributes, including the pronunciation, part of speech, and multiple definitions. Additionally, it also consists of various forms of words, such as different tenses, plurals, and derivations.
The mental lexicon is continuously updated as individuals acquire new words throughout their lives and constantly expand their linguistic knowledge. It plays a crucial role in language production and comprehension, as it allows individuals to retrieve the appropriate words and their meanings quickly and effortlessly during communication.
Research on the mental lexicon focuses on understanding how words are organized, interconnected, and retrieved in our minds, as well as the factors that influence this process. This can include investigating the influence of contextual cues, frequency of word usage, and individual differences in vocabulary size and retrieval efficiency.
Common Misspellings for MENTAL LEXICON
- nental lexicon
- kental lexicon
- jental lexicon
- mwntal lexicon
- msntal lexicon
- mdntal lexicon
- mrntal lexicon
- m4ntal lexicon
- m3ntal lexicon
- mebtal lexicon
- memtal lexicon
- mejtal lexicon
- mehtal lexicon
- menral lexicon
- menfal lexicon
- mengal lexicon
- menyal lexicon
- men6al lexicon
- men5al lexicon
Etymology of MENTAL LEXICON
The word "mental" originates from the late 15th century Middle English term "mentālis", derived from the Latin word "mentalis" meaning "of the mind" or "intellectual". "Lexicon" comes from the early 17th century Latin word "lexicon", which was derived from the Greek word "lexikon" meaning "dictionary" or "vocabulary". Therefore, the term "mental lexicon" combines "mental", relating to the mind, and "lexicon", referring to a collection of words or vocabulary. It is a term used in psychology and linguistics to describe the individual's internalized knowledge and understanding of words and their meanings.
Similar spelling words for MENTAL LEXICON
- mental deficiency,
- mental energy,
- mental imagery,
- mental home,
- mental anguish,
- mental exhaustion,
- mental block,
- mental image,
- mental strain,
- mental note,
- mental quickness,
- mental ability,
- mental case,
- mental rejection,
- mental illness,
- mental confusion,
- mental state,
- mental process,
- mental testing,
- mental object,
- mental faculty,
- mental hygiene,
- mental picture.
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