Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon - Softcover

Aitchison, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631144420 ISBN 13: 9780631144427

Publisher: Blackwell Pub, 1987

Synopsis

This volume about words, and the extraordinary human capacity to store and retrieve them. We hold effortlessly at least 50,000 of them in our minds, the majority of which can be summoned in a split second. No computer has yet come anywhere near simulating the complexities of the internal word-store. This book provides an up-to-date introduction to man's prodigious "mental lexicon". Using evidence from "slips of the tongue", the word-finding problems of aphasics, psycholinguistic experiments and the research of theoretical linguists, it describes: how man deals with this fluctuating mass of words; how people use fluid prototypes rather than fixed definitions for coping with meaning; how we extend old words and create new ones. The book compares the verbal resources of adults and children, and assesses recent competing theories as to how we seek out the lexical items we need. It is designed both for students embarking on psycholinguistics courses, and for anyone who has ever puzzled about the human word-store.

About this title

Book Description

This book deals with words, and how humans learn them, remember them, understand them, and find the ones they want. It discusses the structure and content of the human word-store or 'mental lexicon' with particular reference to the spoken language of native English speakers. Since the first two editions of Words in the Mind were published, work on the lexicon has exploded. This is reflected in this new edition, which contains substantial additions. One new chapter has been added on layering and meaning change, and several others have been considerably expanded. The notes and suggestions for further reading have been updated, and numerous new references have been included. The book remains accessible in style and easy to read for both undergraduates and non-specialists.

About the Author

Jean Aitchison is the Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication at the University of Oxford, and a Professorial Fellow at Worcester College. In her research she is concerned with the mental lexicon, language change, and the language of the media. She has lectured in various parts of the world, including the USA, Europe, and India, and is the author of The Articulate Mammal (Fourth Edition, 1998), Language Change (Third Edition, 2001), Linguistics (Fifth Edition, 1999), The Seeds of Speech (1996), and The Language Web (1997).

Edition details

• Publisher: Blackwell Pub
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0631144420
• ISBN 13: 9780631144427
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288