vorlegens

Vorlegens is a term used in speculative linguistics and fictional world-building to denote a hypothesized class of mental representations that exist prior to lexical access. The term is not part of mainstream linguistics and is rarely employed outside particular thought experiments and narrative settings.

Origin and terminology: The label combines the German prefix vor- meaning "before" with legen "to lay," used metaphorically for something laid before the mind prior to word retrieval. In published works, the form is encountered as Vorlegens (capitalized when used as a term) and occasionally as vorlegens in running text.

Definition: In its most common fictional usage, vorlegens refers to pre-lexical structures that organize incoming perceptual information into rough categories before phonological encoding occurs. They are imagined as intermediate representations that influence which words are later selected for articulation or comprehension.

Usage and scope: Thought experiments use vorlegens to explore how perception, memory, and language production interact at an early stage. It also appears in world-building contexts to explain how characters’ minds might filter sensory input before lexical processing.

Relation to real theory and criticism: In real-world linguistics, vorlegens lacks empirical support and is considered speculative. Proponents view it as a useful heuristic for illustrating boundary cases between perception and language, while critics argue it introduces unnecessary complexity beyond established pre-lexical processing models.

See also: Pre-lexical processing, lexical access, phonology, semantic priming.