Core Words versus Fringe Vocabulary

Kristi Murphy, M.A., CCC-SLP

March 9, 2015

Question

What is the difference between core words and fringe vocabulary?

Answer

Core words are the main words that we use in terms of what we say. Core vocabulary consists of those few hundred words that we use for 85% of our communication. There are structure words such as pronouns, verbs, determiners, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions. Almost none of them are nouns; even fewer are object nouns, and only the nouns with an obvious picture association.

Extended (fringe) vocabulary is the extra words that we talk about. Most of them are extended vocabulary words. Most of the words are content or topic specific and are important. However, they are not used nearly as often as core vocabulary words.

Kristi Murphy is currently works with children K-12 in specialized classrooms. Her current student caseload consists primarily of students with multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairments, and autism. A large portion of her caseload is non-verbal and requires some type of augmentative or alternative communication.

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