Some Linguistic Features of Speech from Aphasic Patients

Abstract

The free speech of each of twelve adult aphasic patients was examined with reference particularly to (1) the distribution of words according to grammatical function, (2) sequential dependencies in form-class usage, and (3) stereotypy in vocabulary. The majority of the aphasic records departed considerably from normal usage (as defined by analysis of twelve control records), with similarity among some patients in the pattern of divergence. The measures used appear to be of particular value in revealing (i) semantic difficulties in word selection and (ii) difficulties in the sequencing of speech that occur along with syntactic losses.