Neologistic Jargon Aphasia: A Case of Akala Gboo

Abstract

This paper conducts a psycholinguistic analysis of a neologistic jargon aphasic, Akala Gboo (a pseudonym of the patient) who is 52 years old. Neologistic jargon aphasia is a type of language disorder that manifests in the form of fluent speech, production of series of meaningless sounds and formulation of new words. This aphasic condition has not been explored to a large extent by researchers. By adopting the descriptive research design and using oral interview as instrument of data collection, the research finds out that the jargon aphasic exhibits elements of phonemic and morphemic paraphasias; as well as production of new words which are very much meaningful to him but they sound as gibberish to the hearers such as kwotekumakumakakununism, inianimous kalikwokaminolamkamkwuu. The paper finds out that the stimulants of the jargon aphasic symptoms are excitement and excessive intake of alcohol and cigarette. However, the paper recommends that government agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) should set up an aphasia centre where the needs of aphasics will be catered for and which will also make them easily accessible for aphasia researchers.