Lexikalische

Lexikalische is the attributive form of the German adjective lexikalisch, used to describe topics related to the lexicon or vocabulary of a language. In linguistic usage, the term signals aspects of meaning and form at the word level rather than at the level of grammar or syntax.

Etymology and meaning: The word derives from Lexikon, meaning a dictionary or lexicon, itself from the Greek lexis, meaning word or speech. As an adjective, lexikalisch describes things tied to words, their meanings, and their organization in a language system. The inflected form lexikalische appears before feminine singular nouns (die lexikalische Bedeutung) and other contexts where the ending matches gender and number.

Usage in linguistics: Lexikalische describes elements of lexicology and lexical semantics, the branches of linguistics that study words as units. Key concepts include lexical items (lemmas or word forms with contentful meaning), lexical meaning (the inherent sense of a word), polysemy and homonymy (multiple related or distinct senses), and collocations (typical word combinations). The term often appears in phrases such as lexikalische Bedeutung (lexical meaning), lexikalische Kategorie (lexical category, e.g., content words like nouns, verbs, adjectives), and lexikalische Einträge (dictionary entries).

Examples: Die lexikalische Bedeutung des Wortes Bank hängt vom Kontext ab. Das lexikalische Register eines Wörterbuchs listet Lexeme, Wortarten und Bedeutungsfelder als lexikalische Einträge. In English: The lexical meaning of the word bank depends on context; a dictionary’s lexical entries include lemmas, parts of speech, and sense definitions.

See also: Lexicon, lexeme, lexical semantics, lexicology.