Words are perhaps the most important elements of a language. They reference everything around us, allowing us to express ourselves. They are instruments that represent the organization of the world of beings and have values that are not absolute, since human relationships are constantly changing. Therefore, we can state three points regarding the definition of a word:
→ basic unit of interaction;
→ meaning unit of human speech;
→ essential unit to represent what goes on in people's minds.
In addition to these observations, it should be noted that words vary from language to language. It is possible, then, to say that each linguistic community has a lexicon. But wait a minute... You know what is lexicon?
No? Well then, Escola Kids prepared a text to present what the lexicon is and some other curiosities in relation to this concept. Come on?
What is Lexicon?
According to our most renowned dictionaries, lexicon is the set of words in a language. With this in mind, in addition to taking into account what we said earlier about the fact that values The meanings of words are not absolute, it is important to highlight that one of the curiosities of the lexicon is its mutability. What does that mean? As our language is alive, new words will always be appearing and, therefore, there will not be a speaker who will completely master the lexicon of their mother tongue.
The user of a language accesses this collection of words available in their language and then forms their vocabulary. That's right: lexicon and vocabulary do not have the same meaning. There is one more curiosity about this subject. A person's vocabulary is formed by selecting and using their language lexicon. It's as if the vocabulary were a part of the lexicon.
Tip: having a wide vocabulary contributes to communication!
Well, now it's very clear what the lexicon is, right? And we were also able to work with other important definitions for the study and good use of the Portuguese language.
To close today's reflection, one more tip: a good tool to further expand your vocabulary is the dictionary. It is a space that houses much of the lexicon of a language and, consequently, the cultural heritage of a people. It is worth accessing it more and more.
by Mariana Pacheco
Graduated in Letters
