orðaforða

Orðaforði denotes the total set of words a person knows and can use, or the lexicon of a language. In linguistics, it may refer to lemmas (base forms) or include inflected forms, and its size depends on the method used to count.

It is commonly divided into active vocabulary, the words a person uses in speech and writing, and passive (receptive) vocabulary, the words recognized and understood. The lexicon can also be categorized into core or general vocabulary and specialized or technical vocabulary, with loanwords and neologisms expanding a language’s inventory over time.

Researchers measure orðaforði with tests of receptive and productive knowledge, frequency lists, and corpus-based methods. Estimates vary by language and measurement, but both receptive and productive vocabularies grow through reading, listening, and sustained practice. In many studies, the active vocabulary is smaller than the passive one, and knowledge is organized around word families, collocations, and usage patterns.

In education, developing a robust orðaforði supports reading comprehension, writing fluency, and academic achievement. Instruction often targets high-frequency words, word families, and common collocations, as well as strategies for deducing meaning from context and encountering new terms.

In Icelandic, as in other languages, orðaforði reflects individual exposure, education, age, dialect, and the influence of loanwords and new coinages. Overall, orðaforði is a central measure of linguistic ability, illustrating what a speaker knows and can actively use.