The concept of Mental Lexicon and Modelling Practices in Interdisciplinary Research

Abstract

This paper examines the mental lexicon as an interdisciplinary construct at the intersection of psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, and neuroscience, and systematizes key approaches to its modelling. It argues that the mental lexicon should be understood not as a static “word store,” but as a dynamic system underlying speech comprehension and production. The study integrates evidence on the component structure of lexical representations, including form–meaning relations and lemma–lexeme distinctions, as well as developmental changes and bilingual processing, within a unified framework. An integrative review methodology is employed, combining content analysis and comparative evaluation of international and regional research, alongside findings from established experimental paradigms such as word association, priming, tip-of-the-tongue phenomena, eye-tracking, and neuroimaging. The results suggest that the mental lexicon consists of interconnected semantic, phonological, and orthographic layers, where lexical access depends on representational quality, connection strength, and network integration. Developmental changes involve both vocabulary expansion and structural reorganization of lexical networks, including the formation of core–periphery patterns. In bilinguals, parallel language activation and control mechanisms increase lexical competition and may reduce accessibility of certain units. The study highlights network-based models as a promising integrative approach and emphasizes the need for expanded empirical resources..