In linguistics, the lexicon (from Greek Λεξικόν) of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields The vocabulary of a person is defined either as the set of all Words that are understood by that person or the set of all words likely to be used by that person when constructing More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. For its use in the context of Computer Science see Lexical analysis.

The lexicon includes the lexemes used to actualize words. Lexemes are formed according to morpho-syntactic rules and express sememes. In Morpheme-based morphology, a morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that has semantic meaning. Sememe (from σημαίνω (sēmaino — mean signify - semantical language unit of meaning correlative to morpheme In this sense, a lexicon organizes the mental vocabulary in a speaker's mind: First, it organizes the vocabulary of a language according to certain principles (for instance, all verbs of motion may be linked in a lexical network) and second, it contains a generative device producing (new) simple and complex words according to certain lexical rules. MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For example, the suffix '-able' can be added to transitive verbs only, so that we get 'read-able' but not '*cry-able'. In Grammar, a suffix (also postfix, ending) is an Affix which is placed at the end of a word In Syntax, a transitive verb is a Verb that requires both a subject and one or more objects Some examples of sentences with transitive verbs

Usually a lexicon is a container for words belonging to the same language. Some exceptions may be encountered for languages that are variants, like for instance Brazilian compared to Portuguese, where a lot of words are common and where the differences may be marked word by word.

When linguists study the lexicon, they study such things as what words are, how the vocabulary in a language is structured, how people use and store words, how they learn words, the history and evolution of words (i. e. etymology), types of relationships between words as well as how words were created. Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time

An individual's lexicon, lexical knowledge, or lexical concept is that person's knowledge of vocabulary. The vocabulary of a person is defined either as the set of all Words that are understood by that person or the set of all words likely to be used by that person when constructing

See also

• Glossary
• Lexeme
• Lexical markup framework
• Lexical word
• Morphology (linguistics)
• Vocabulary

Further reading

• Aitchison, Jean. See also List of glossaries A glossary is a list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms For its use in the context of Computer Science see Lexical analysis. Lexical Markup Framework (LMF is a work in progress within International Organization for Standardization ISO/TC37 in order to define a common standardized framework Morphology is the field of Linguistics that studies the internal structure of words The vocabulary of a person is defined either as the set of all Words that are understood by that person or the set of all words likely to be used by that person when constructing Jean Aitchison is a Professor of Language and Communication in the Faculty of English Language and Literature at the University Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon. Malden, Mass. : Blackwell, 2003.