What Are the Most Common Core Words in AAC?

If you're setting up an AAC device or board, you want to know which words matter most. Not which words are fun or cute, but which words will give the user the most communication power per word learned.

The answer comes from word frequency research. Linguists and AAC researchers have studied which words people use most often in everyday conversation. The results are remarkably consistent: a small group of high-frequency words appears across all ages, all settings, and all speakers. These are core words.

Here's the quick answer, followed by what it means in practice.

The Top 40 Core Words

This list is based on general English word frequency research and AAC-specific vocabulary studies, including work by Yorkston, Dowden, Honsinger, Marriner, and Smith (1988) and Banajee, DiCarlo, and Stricklin (2003). Rankings vary slightly depending on the study and population, but the same words appear near the top across all of them.

For a broader list that goes beyond these 40 words, see our full core words list for AAC.

What Makes These Words So Powerful

Look at the list again. Notice what's mostly absent? Nouns. There are no foods, no animals, no toys, no names. That's not an accident.

These words are powerful precisely because they are not tied to specific topics. The word "want" works at breakfast, at the playground, at school, at grandma's house, and everywhere in between. The word "cookie" only works when cookies are relevant.

Flexibility

Each core word works in dozens or hundreds of different situations. "Go" can mean go outside, go to the park, go fast, go away, go home, or let's go. "More" applies to food, activities, music, play, books, and anything else worth repeating.

This flexibility means that every core word a child learns multiplies their communication options. Learning 10 core words gives a child access to hundreds of possible messages when combined. Learning 10 nouns gives them the ability to label 10 things.

Combinability

Core words combine with each other and with nouns to create real sentences. Look at what a child can express with just five words from this list:

• "I want more."
• "Not that."
• "Go here."
• "I want it."
• "More, not that one."
• "Go get it."

That's six distinct messages from five words. With nouns alone, you can't form sentences at all. You can only point at things.

Stability across populations

Banajee, DiCarlo, and Stricklin (2003) studied the vocabulary of young children in naturalistic settings and found that the same core words appeared with high frequency across different children. Yorkston et al. (1988) found similar patterns across adults. The core stays remarkably stable regardless of age, ability level, or setting.

This means you don't need to guess which words will be most useful for your specific child. The research has already answered that question. These words are useful for everyone.

What This Means for AAC Setup

If you're organizing an AAC device, this list tells you which words should be easiest to access. In practical terms:

These words should be on the home page. The top 20 to 40 core words should be reachable with one press, not buried in folders or on secondary pages. Every extra navigation step between the user and a word reduces the chance they'll use it.

These words should have the most prominent positions. If your AAC app uses a grid layout, core words should occupy the positions that are easiest for your child to reach. For many children, that means the edges and corners of the grid, where motor patterns are most distinct.

These words should be taught first. Before food words, before animal names, before colors. Core vocabulary is the foundation that everything else builds on. For a guide on where to start, see core words to teach first.

Fringe words should be organized around them. Nouns and other context-specific words are still important. They just shouldn't take priority over core vocabulary in terms of placement or teaching time. For more on how core and fringe vocabulary work together, read core words vs. fringe words.

A Note on Individual Variation

While these 40 words are consistently high-frequency across populations, every AAC user will develop their own high-priority vocabulary. A child who loves dinosaurs will need "dinosaur" to be readily available. A teenager might need specific slang terms their peers use.

The core list is a starting point, not a limitation. Use it to build the foundation, then personalize from there.

The real takeaway is simple: if these words aren't easy to find and use on your child's device, start there. They're the words that do the most work in every conversation.

What to Do Next

1. Check your child's AAC device. Are these 40 words on the home page or easily reachable? If not, reorganize.
2. Start modeling. Pick 3 to 5 words from this list and begin using them throughout your day. For strategies, see how to teach core words.
3. Don't wait for mastery before adding more. Once your child is showing recognition of a few core words, introduce additional ones. Growth happens through exposure, not perfection.

The research is clear: a small set of high-frequency words does the heavy lifting in human communication. Put these words front and center, model them consistently, and your child will have the building blocks for real, flexible language.