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Accessing words from the mental lexicon

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary WorksRGC 12 - Chapter in an edited book (Author)peer-review

Abstract

This chapter describes how speakers access words from the mental lexicon. Lexical access is a crucial com ponent in the process of transforming thoughts into speech. Some theories consider lexical access to be strictly serial and discrete, while others view this process as being cascading or even interactive, i.e. the different sub-levels influence each other. We discuss some of the evidence in favour and against these viewpoints, and also present arguments regarding the ongoing debate on how words are selected for production. Another important issue concerns the access to morphologically com plex words such as derived and inflected words, as well as com pounds. Are these accessed as whole entities from the mental lexicon or are the parts assembled online? This chapter tries to provide an answer to that question as well.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of the Word
EditorsJohn R. Taylor
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Chapter27
Pages481-492
ISBN (Electronic)9780191756696
ISBN (Print)9780199641604
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jun 2015
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameOxford Handbooks

Research Keywords

  • mental lexicon
  • speech production
  • lexical access
  • discrete processing
  • serial processing
  • cascading processing
  • interactive processing
  • morphologically complex words
  • compounds
  • online assembly

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