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The term “lexicon” is sometimes used synonymously with “dictionary.” In the most general sense, a lexicon is a list of lexical units of a language. Characteristics of each unit, such as grammatical class (e.g., noun, verb) and meaning, are typically included in the lexicon. The term “mental lexicon” is used to refer to not only the lexical units stored in an individual speaker/listener’s brain but also to the knowledge of the processes and rules by which the units are manipulated. The mental lexicon is fluid and flexible, changing with the speaker’s experience and needs.
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Aitchison, J. (2012). Words in the mind: An introduction to the mental lexicon (4th ed.). West Sussex: Wiley.
Warren, P. (2012). Introducing psycholinguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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Shuster, L. (2018). Lexicon. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_894
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_894
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