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Topic: The typical vocabulary

One of those questions that comes up again and again concerns the size of the typical vocabulary. Just how many words does an English speaker know? The hairsplitting answer has at least three variables: first, what do we mean by word? Is imagination one word and imaginary a second? Second, what is intended by the word know? Does it mean a listener or reader can figure out the meaning by context? Does it mean he or she uses a word on a weekly basis? Yearly? Third, just which English speaker are we talking about? A third-grader? William Shakespeare?

We'll sidestep the question of what makes a word a word and concentrate on the second two questions. Linguists differentiate between a passive vocabulary—words that a person understands—and an active vocabulary—which he or she actually uses. Applying what is an admittedly loose distinction, scholars estimate an educated adult will probably be familiar with somewhere between 50,000 and 250,000 words. Estimates on the usage of these words range from 10% to 90%.

While that broad range seemingly covers everyone from a third-grader to the Bard, linguists have done a bit more study of the lexicon of schoolchildren. According to one estimate, a third-grader may know between 4,000 and 24,000 words; by twelfth-grade, he or she will be familiar with something in the neighborhood of 32,000 to 42,000 words.

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and CDs including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

This is going to make studying for the GREs a lot harder for me. sweatdrop