An Experimental Approach to the Problem of Articulation in Aphasia

Abstract

A phonetic analysis was made of speech production in five patients with major residual deficits in articulation following remission of more widespread disturbances of verbal expression. The findings demonstrate major disturbance of speech production at the most molecular level. Maximal difficulty in articulation occurred at the beginning portion of words. Consonant sounds were much more often misarticulated than vowel sounds. Fricative and affricate consonants and certain linked groups of consonants were the most often affected of all sounds of speech. Phonetic simplifications typical of young children were observed less frequently than other errors which are not found in children's speech nor in the speech of adults with defects of the articulatory structures. Systematic observation of speech in phonetic disintegration may well contribute new understanding of the fundamental processes of speech production.