A lexicon is the knowledge that a native speaker has about a language. This includes information about

• the form and meanings of words and phrases
• lexical categorization
• the appropriate usage of words and phrases
• relationships between words and phrases, and
• categories of words and phrases.

Phonological and grammatical rules are not considered part of the lexicon.

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library. Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.

Glossary Hierarchy