Words in the Mind - An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon - 2nd Edition

Jul 30, 2026

Uploaded by Ophelia

Words in the Mind presents a structured introduction to the mental lexicon, the human word-store, explaining how words are represented, accessed, and learned in the mind. The book synthesizes evidence from observations of slips of the tongue, aphasia, and psycholinguistic experiments, while also incorporating perspectives from theoretical linguistics. It guides readers through core aims, key methods, prototype and semantic ideas, lexical organization, and the sound and internal architecture of words, from foundational concepts to new learners.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages308

Reading Time12 h 56 min

AccessFree to download

Words in the Mind

Preface

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations and Symbols

PART 1 AIMS AND EVIDENCE

1 Welcome to Dictionopolis! The human word-store

2 Links in the Chain Assessing the evidence

PART 2 BASIC INGREDIENTS

4 Slippery Customers Attempts to pin down the meaning of words

5 Bad Birds and Better Birds Prototype theories

6 Whispering Chambers of the Imagination Prototypes as mental models

7 The Primordial Atomic Globule Hunt The search for semantic primitives

8 Word-webs Semantic networks

9 Lexical All-sorts Parts of speech

10 Verb Power The role of verbs

11 Bits of Words The internal architecture of words

12 Taking Care of the Sounds Dealing with the sound patterns

PART 3 NEWCOMERS

13 Interpreting Ice-cream Cones Extending

JEAN AITCHISON WORDS INTHE an in trodu ction to the men tal lexicon SECOND EDITION Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2011 3 # Words in the Mind From reviews of the first edition: '"Leider nicht von mir”(“Wish it were mine”),Johannes Brahms regretfully remarkedwhen he first heard Johann Strauss's waltz“An der schönen blauen Donau”.I felt quite thesame way when I read this book for the first time,and I admire it still...Words in the Mindis a very valuable book...Moreover,whereas the book does not require much backgroundreading beforehand,it is nevertheless also useful for the specialist:I could not discover anyimportant finding relevant to the structure of the mental lexicon which is lacking in A.'s presentation.'Yearbook of Morphology 'The bock succeeds as a popular introduction to the problem of how humans rememberwords and how children learn them.It is aimed at both the general reader and undergradu-ates in linguistics and psychology.The author presents a lively,comprehensive summary ofthe data obtained from observing slips of the tongue,from aphasics,and from psycholinguisticexperiments,together with perspectives from theoretical linguistics...The book is a verygood introduction to many of the problems of language...from the novel perspective ofthe mental lexicon.It provides a refreshing change from the usual ‘speech chain'introduc-tion to language and helps to redress the relative neglect of the mental lexicon.'Journal ofLinguistics 'The well-known author Jean Aitchison....has given us such classics as Language Change,The Articulate Mammal,and the Linguistics volume in the British Teach Yourself Booksseries.This volume,like the others,is well written and well researched and thus can berecommended for linguist and layman alike.'Notes on Linguistics ‘...here is a book to inform and delight all those with an interest in words.It gives achallenging picture of what has been rightly called "the vastness of natural language"andthe complexity of the representation of language in the brain.'International Journal ofLexicography 'This account is a splendid exposition of the field,which takes the reader through a widerange of psychological and linguistic notions...It is a splendid synthesis of theoreticalpositions and methods,with clever analogies,realistic examples,and clear chaptersummaries...If you want to find out about the current state of knowledge concerninglanguage in the brain,with the least possible pain,then read this friendly book.English Today 'Aitchison(1987)focuses on psycholinguistic aspects [of the lexicon],and gives a highlycompetent,convincing,comprehensive,and readable survey of "recent findings on themental lexicon”,defined as "the human word-store”.'Comment in preface of An Outline ofEnglish Lexicology by L.Lipka(Tübingen:Niemeyer,1990) # Words in the Mind —An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon — 2ND EDITION JEAN AITCHISON Copyright CJean Aitchinson 1994 The right of Jean Aitchinson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted inaccordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988 First edtion first published 1987Second edition first published 1994Reprinted 1995(twice),1996 Blackwell Publishers Ltd108 Cowley Road,Oxford OX41JF,UK Blackwell Publishers Inc.238 Main Street Cambridge,Massachusetts 021411,USA All rights reserved.Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism andreview,no part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,ortransmitted,in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording orotherwise,without the prior permission of the publisher. Except in the United States of America,this book is sold subject to the condition that it shallnot,by way of trade or otherwise,be lent,re-sold,hired out,or otherwise circulated without thepublisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it ispublished and without a similar condition including

FAQs

What does Words in the Mind study?

It focuses on the mental lexicon, defined as the human word-store, and how it is structured and used in language processing.

What kinds of evidence are used to support the book’s claims?

The book draws on slips of the tongue, data from aphasia, and findings from psycholinguistic experiments, integrated with theoretical linguistics viewpoints.

Which topics are covered in the main parts of the book?

The book moves from aims and evidence to basic ingredients like word meaning, prototypes, semantic primitives, semantic networks, parts of speech, and the internal and sound structures of words, then toward topics for newcomers.

Jul 30, 2026

Uploaded by Ophelia