woordeskat

Woordeskat is a Dutch term that designates the set of words that a person knows and uses. In linguistics and education, it is often subdivided into passive or receptive vocabulary (words recognized and understood) and active vocabulary (words used in speech or writing). The concept can apply at the individual level (a person’s own woordeskat) and at the level of a speech community (the vocabulary of a language, region, school, or profession). A rich woordeskat includes knowledge of meanings, nuances, connotations, derivations, inflected forms, and appropriate collocations and registers (formal, informal, technical language).

Breadth and depth of woordeskat influence reading comprehension, expressive ability, and academic achievement. Acquisition occurs through reading, listening, instruction, and social interaction, with strategies such as explicit vocabulary teaching, repeated exposure, semantic mapping, and context inference. In education, expanding woordeskat is a central goal of language development and literacy programs.

In lexicography and language technology, woordeskat corresponds to the lexicon or vocabulary of a language, serving as a foundation for dictionaries, spell checkers, search engines, and natural language processing systems. Individual woordeskat varies by age, education, occupation, culture, and language contact, and evolves with continued language exposure.