A group of words and rules that make up an individual's working knowledge of language is called what?

• A. Lexicon
• B. Phonology
• C. Linguistic set
• D. Semantics

Answer: (C)

Think of language knowledge as the mental system that stores both the words you know and the rules for using them. The phrase described—the group of words and rules that make up a person’s working knowledge of language—refers to that overall internal capacity, the linguistic set. It’s a broader concept than just vocabulary (lexicon), which is only the word bank, or just sounds (phonology), or just meaning (semantics). So, linguistic set best captures how a speaker uses both words and the rules to understand and produce language.