Lexicon vs. Vocabulary?

[-K2-]

Would any of you care to explain the difference in 'dim-wit' terms?

Thanks for your help!

K2

 

[Alex The G and T]

Lexicon is all of the words in a language. More specifically, written down in a great big book.

Vocabulary is all the words that an individual has, at ready access, in his head.

 

[-K2-]

Nice differentiation @Alex The G and T ; So, if I generated a 'list' of all words used within a language, their meanings and a few basic rules, that would make the written list a lexicon, yes?

K2

 

[Alex The G and T]

Yes.
My personal Vocabulary senses that lexicon and dictionary are, more or less, synonymous.

But, of course, Lexicon sounds much more scholarly because it's Greek.

 

[-K2-]

Welp, that works for me. I'm already using other kewl words in that section such as 'lexifier.'

K2

 

[-K2-]

@Alex The G and T ; I'd like to run something else by you in that I believe I am using the word 'lexicon' incorrectly.

Considering typical English prefix and suffix use applies to lemmas in Kay's language...
If I only list headwords/lemmas in my list of words, then it is NOT truly a lexicon. Is that correct?
Ex.: lemma = bob
Bob, bobs, bobly, bobing, bobed, rebob, prebob... etc., whatever might be variants for whatever the usual English reason.
For Kay's List to be an actual lexicon, I would need to list those variants as well, correct?

Currently what I have is a list of headwords, a few rules for use (including notes that common English modifiers may be used) and so on. So, in reality I do not have a vocabulary, lexicon or dictionary... I most likely have a simple 'list.' Yes? No? Wut?

Thanks for your help

K2

 

[The Judge]

If you're defining some technical/abstruse words at the beginning or end of the book, then to my mind it's a glossary. For a glossary -- as in a dictionary or lexicon come to that -- you wouldn't need to define eg every part of a verb, so if "bob" is a verb, you don't need to include bobed or bobing. But a glossary need only deal with words which need to be defined or explained, ie ones you've made up.

A dictionary would usually include all words, even familiar ones, but a lexicon might only include words relating to a particular topic or subject -- so if I were compiling a lexicon of architectural terms, it would only deal with words associated with architecture.

That help?

 

[-K2-]

If you're defining some technical/abstruse words at the beginning or end of the book, then to my mind it's a glossary. For a glossary -- as in a dictionary or lexicon come to that -- you wouldn't need to define eg every part of a verb, so if "bob" is a verb, you don't need to include bobed or bobing. But a glossary need only deal with words which need to be defined or explained, ie ones you've made up.

A dictionary would usually include all words, even familiar ones, but a lexicon might only include words relating to a particular topic or subject -- so if I were compiling a lexicon of architectural terms, it would only deal with words associated with architecture.

That help?

Thanks for the response @The Judge ; This pertains to 2 lists of words and some basic rules, used by a pidgin language. However, the basic words (headwords) may use typical English modifiers. Attempting to properly note what I have for an appendices title, I read that a 'lexicon is a list of all known words and their variants.' That is not what I have (refusing to write out every possible tense, case and so on).

So, I was checking to see if the word 'lexicon' still applied to what I have. I'm 'guessing' it doesn't.

Thanks for your input.

K2

 

[The Judge]

I don't know that I'd agree that a lexicon is all known words and variants, and as I say, no dictionary ever gives every conjugation and the like. But regardless of that, I don't think what you're creating actually is a lexicon -- it's a glossary, ie an explanation of selected terms.

 

[-K2-]

I don't know that I'd agree that a lexicon is all known words and variants, and as I say, no dictionary ever gives every conjugation and the like. But regardless of that, I don't think what you're creating actually is a lexicon -- it's a glossary, ie an explanation of selected terms.

Thanks for the response. Glossary, which I did notice when you previously mentioned it, I assumed meant 'explanations of words used to define an action or thing.' I'll look up the definition and see where that leads me.

Thanks again!

K2

EDIT: And doh! There is after five seconds of looking;
Glossary: an alphabetical list of terms or words found in or relating to a specific subject, text, or dialect, with explanations; a brief dictionary.