English Mnemonic Lexicon: Constituent Structure and Verbalization Potential
English Mnemonic Lexicon: Constituent Structure and Verbalization Potential

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents a study of the system of lexical devices used by English speakers to verbalize theirpersonal memory experiences. The approach presented in the paper presupposes inclusion of nonnarrativestructures into the spectrum of language forms conveying mnemonic meanings and extends thelatter so as to encompass the meanings of encoding, storage, retrieval and loss. The research is based onthe hypothesis that lexical units expressing memory-related meanings in English constitute a specificallyorganized system. A variety of communicative contexts representing mnemonic situations are analyzed asto d evelop a t ypology o f m emory v erbalizers i n E nglish, estimate t heir f unctional p otential a nd role i nobjectifying personal memory experiences on the lexical level. The results confirm the original hypothesisand suggest that mnemonic lexicon as a linguistic reflection of the mnemonic faculty is an important andlargely understudied element of the language – memory system.

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