Lexical Access

The cognitive process of retrieving words from the mental lexicon during language production or comprehension. Lexical access involves activating the phonological, semantic, and syntactic properties of a word stored in memory. Disorders of lexical access, such as those seen in aphasia, can make it difficult or impossible to retrieve known words on demand, even though the person may still understand the concept. This is a central concern in AAC design, where tools must compensate for impaired word retrieval by providing alternative pathways to locate and select vocabulary.