Deviant Language Research Articles

The Individual, communication, and society: essays in memory of Gregory Bateson

Preface 1. In search of the impertinent question: an overview of Bateson's theory of communication Robert W. Rieber Part I. Mending the Connection Between Mind and Society: 2. Power, method, and ethics: a reflection on Bateson's view of moral and national character David Bakan 3. The psychopathy of everyday life: antisocial behaviour and social distress Robert W. Rieber and Maurice Green 4. Bateson's concept of mental illness Theodore Skolnik Part II. Language and Communication in Context: 5. Language, languages, and song: the experience of systems (1968) Mary Catherine Bateson 6. Affective and communicative problems in young, developmentally deviant language users Theodore Shapiro and Elena Goldstein Lister 7. A cross-cultural study of language universals: the emotional meaning of iconic and graphic stimuli Robert W. Rieber, Oliver S. Tzeng and Carl Wiedmann 8. Machine dreams: computers in the fantasies of young adults John M. Broughton Part III. Mind and Paralinguistic Communication: 9. In search of coronary-prone behaviour Aron W. Siegman 10. Two principles of communicative functioning Norbert Freedman Part IV. Dialogues and Dialectics: 11. Gregory Bateson (1904-1980) and Oscar Wilde (1854-1900): a heavenly discourse Peter Ostwald 12. Body and mind: a dialogue Gregory Bateson and Robert W. Rieber Index.

An investigation into non-fluency in Down's syndrome.

ABSTRACTPrevious studies of the non‐fluencies noted in Down's syndrome individuals have failed to take account of the linguistic age and competence of the subjects. The hypothesis of this study was that, if the language age of Down's syndrome subjects were delayed in comparison to chronological age, more insight might be gained if their non‐fluencies were considered as normal non‐fluency, a phenomenon observed in normally developing children at an early language age. The non‐fluencies of five Down's syndrome subjects were examined in relation to those of five developmentally normal subjects with equivalent language ages. The non‐fluencies in the Down's group shared some characteristics with those of the normal children, but were different in other ways. It was felt to be more appropriate to consider their non‐fluencies in relation to their language deficit and to the non‐fluencies noted in language‐impaired children. The findings thus add weight to the hypothesis of deviant language development in Down's syndrome.

The Language of Language Disability

It is ironic that in an era of enthusiasm for researching and facilitating social appropriateness in children's language use, we who conduct this research and intervention use and accept terms offensive to disabled people. The demeaning connotations of defective and deficient; the objectionable use of nouns that identify children rather than their language exlusively in terms of disability (e.g., "deviant language users"); and the irrelevant global negative judgment implicit in the use of normal as a contrast term are discussed. The paper suggests ways to avoid these biases and argues that to retain current uses of objectionable terms is to offend potential readers, to risk self-contradiction, and to face public embarrassment.

Testing authentic language: the problem of meaning

In this paper, some of the ways in which meaning is extracted in authentic language contexts are discussed. The claim is made that it is always the case that some level of the language we use is imperfect or deviant from some putative ideal. Finally, two common contexts in which authentic but deviant language is the medium of communication are examined. In attempting to understand how participants manage to communicate in situations where the code is deviant and where they are unequal in their control of the language, we can gain insights into what contributes to successful communication under authentic conditions. Some implications for authentic language testing are considered.

The identification of metaphor

A number of philosophers, linguists and psychologists have made the dual claim that metaphor is cognitively significant and that metaphorical utterances have a meaning not reducible to literal paraphrase. Such a position requires support from an account of metaphorical meaning that can render metaphors cognitively meaningful without the reduction to literal statement. It therefore requires a theory of meaning that can integrate metaphor within its sematics, yet specify why it is not reducible to literal paraphrase. I introduce the idea of a “second-order meaning”, of which metaphor is but one instance, that is a function on literal-conventional, i.e., first-order meaning, and outline a linguistic framework designed to provide a representation of linguistic meaning for both. This framework is designed to represent linguistic units ranging from a single word to an entire text since I argue that the by-now familiar position that the sentence is the appropriate unit for metaphor has mislead us into asking the wrong questions about metaphorical meaning. With this apparatus, we can specify the conditions under which an utterance may transcend the constraints on first-order meaning (transgressions not always apparent on the sentential level), without thereby being “meaningless”. Conversely, we can specify the conditions that may render apparently odd utterances first-order meaningful rather than metaphorical. In this way we see how metaphorical language differs both from deviant language and from specialized language such as technical language, fanciful and fantastical language (in fairy tales, science fiction, etc.).

Language acquisition and communicative behavior in autism: toward an understanding of the "whole" of it.

Deviant language characteristics, deficits in social interaction, and ritualistic and compulsive behaviors are now considered to be among the definitive characteristics of the autistic syndrome. There have been few attempts to bring a sense of cohesion to the varied communicative symptomatology evident in autism, because much of the research literature has been product oriented rather than process oriented, and has focused on language structure rather than function. Therefore, behaviors such as immediate echolalia, delayed echolalia, and interactive rituals are often viewed as isolated, deviant phenomena, rather than as phenomena related to predominant cognitive processing modes and cognitive-linguistic development in autism. This discussion reviews symptomatology of autistic communication in reference to "gestalt" versus "analytic" modes of cognitive processing, language acquisition, and language use. Based on research on language behavior of normal and autistic children, specific issues are considered, including a reconsideration of echolalic behaviors, patterns of social interaction, and patterns of cognitive-linguistic development in autism.

Delayed echolalia in autism: some observations on differences within the term.

Attention has recently focused on the need to build up a corpus of case observations relating to the function of delayed echolalia in various handicapping conditions but especially in early childhood autism. This present article offers six functional categories as an aid to clear reporting of observation and, thus clarification of this little-understood facet of deviant language development.

‘he danced his did’: an analysis

In the last twenty years, Cummings's line ‘he danced his did’; has been at the centre of almost every major discussion of the deviant language of literature. In the last two decades, hundreds of pages and scores of articles have been written which have attempted to assess and motivate its linguistic status and aesthetic success. Without question, ‘he danced his did’ has been more closely scrutinized and extensively analysed than any other single phrase in English literature.

E.E. Cummings: A Study of the Poetic Use of Deviant Morphology

Yet, despite numerous studies by critics, literary scholars and linguists, the effectiveness of many of Cummings's major poetic techniques remains unexplained. Most linguistic studies have referred to Cummings's poetry only anecdotally. Oriented toward theoretical disputes, they have largely argued above the data rather than from substantial analyses of the poetry itself, and, even then, these theoretical controversies have been largely inconclusive. (See Thorne, 1965; 1969; Levin, 1962; 1965; Hendricks, 1969; see Fairley, 1975 for a welcome exception to this trend.) On the other hand, literary scholars have made considerable contributions to our understanding of Cummings's themes, images, visual presentation, historical and biographical background and traditional poetic devices, but have devoted little time to the more deviant aspects of his language. (See Wegner, 1965; Norman, 1972; Friedman, 1960; and Marks, 1964.) As a result, the effectiveness of a large portion of Cummings's deviant language remains unexplained. In the realm of morphology, this is particularly true. While Cummings created literally hundreds of words by the deviant manipulation of the morphological processes of English, linguists and critics have been remarkable in their reluctance to apply their analytical tools to this aspect of Cummings's language.1 On the other

The assessment needs of pre-school children with handicaps of language development.

An outline of the paediatric assessment needs of children with delayed or deviant language development has been given based on the experience and findings of the research language team at the Wolfson Centre.

An overview of language.

This paper presents the idea that language is global in nature, and consists of three interrelated aspects; functions, determinants, and components, each of which can be examined by reference to certain characteristics. This global concept of language has significance for first and second language learning, deviant language, and demonstrates the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of language.

Schizophasia and jargonaphasia: A comparative description with comments on Chaika's and Fromkin's respective looks at “schizophrenic” language

Different varieties of deviant spoken language segments (phonemic, morphemic, verbal, and syntagmic paraphasias and télescopages, neologisms) and different forms of deviant spoken language behaviors (thematic production, dyssyntaxia, glossolalia, and glossomania) are defined and exemplified. Their production is shown to be rule-governed at phonetic and phonological levels; it is shown to be rule-governed or rule-deviant at morphological and/or syntactic levels. Their qualitative and quantitative attributes in normal discourse in the jargonaphasias and in schizophasia are compared. It is underlined that the latter is a behavior episodically observed in only a small proportion of subjects considered to be schizophrenics. Awareness of, and deliberateness in, deviant language production are discussed. A distinction is made between deviations testifying to diminished ability, which betray the speaker's intention, and deviations testifying to singular but rigorous use of ability, which are adapted to the speaker's intentions. The former are contended to be common in the jargonaphasias and occasional in standard discourse and schizophasia, the latter to be characteristic of schizophasia and of various forms of “literary” language, but incompatible with aphasia. In lapidary terms, this implies that ordinary speakers think and talk standard, that (most) jargonaphasic speakers think standard but talk deviant, that schizophasic speakers think quaint and talk accordingly. It is further suggested that the differential diagnosis of jargonaphasia and schizophasia, when made on the sole basis of tape recorded samples of discursive language, resorts mainly to quantitative appraisal of different types of deviant segments on one hand, and, on the other, to the listener's interpretations of the speaker's mode of ideation. Within the realm of pathological language production, nearly exclusive and important production of phonemic transformations is said to be characteristic of conduction aphasia; combined production of numerous phonemic and verbal transformations, and of neologisms, is said to be characteristic of Wernicke's aphasia proper; nearly exclusive and important production of verbal transformations is said to be possible in so-called transcortical sensory aphasia; and predominant production of morphemic transformations and of glossomaniac utterances is said to be characteristic of schizophasia. Linguistic definitions of the “disturbances” behind schizophasic utterances are reviewed. Indications are given concerning the evolution of language behavior in jargonaphasia and schizophasia.

Some semantic prerequisites for a model of language

The researcher involved in the neurological basis for the linguistic functioning of the brain must be aware of the total linguistic system which the brain mechanisms are capable of. Work on the semantic component of this system has led to the description of such major semantic phenomena as referential and non-referential use of language, entailment, etc., which must be taken into account in the characterization of both normal and deviant language. Certain aspects of these phenomena are characterized.

Language structure and predictability in overinclusive patients.

Deviant language behaviour is the primary basis for the clinical inference of thought disorder. Bleuler (1950), for example, emphasizes loose associations and disjointed utterances. Mayer-Gross, Slater, and Roth (1960) state that thought disorder is indicated by such conversation characteristics as ‘woolly vagueness', in-consequential following of side issues, direction by alliteration, analogies or clang associations, and the use of words out of context. However, psychological studies have typically used measures of disordered thinking derived from performance on categorization tasks. Such tasks do not obviously measure the abnormality which is definitive for the clinician. The study reported here was an attempt to relate measures of language effectiveness to overinclusive thought disorder.

Teaching by the Rules

This paper presents methods for applying rule learning in the clinical treatment of language-handicapped children. Focusing on both child-initiated and clinician-initiated therapy procedures we attempt to demonstrate that rule learning is the most sensible approach in the treatment of children with deviant language.

What is deviant language?

This paper presents a detailed description of deviant language, employing the transformational model. In addition to a review of existing work in the area, new information based on a comparison of data obtained from matched groups of normal and deviant language users is presented.

Language training for the autistic child using operant conditioning procedures

This paper describes the nature of behaviors encountered in autistic children. Characteristics of their speech and language behavior are delineated and some principles related to modifying deviant language are discussed. The paper cites the need to observe and record responses to teaching procedures. The role of consequent and antecedent events is discussed based upon the findings in several clinical experimental studies. Emphasis is on the relationship of developmental psycholinguistics and behavioral psychology as they apply to the complex problems of improving the linguistic performance of non-verbal autistic children.

Some aspects of assessment.

Far too many studies in speech therapy hitherto have been directed towards ascertaining and categorising the aetiology of language delay. Thus it is important that current research should include the examination of the difficulties experienced by some children in acquiring language by reference to the systematic methods of investigation used by linguists. Thus the first task must be to analyse the structure of deviant language for as Jakobson (1956) states “… to study adequately breakdown in communication we must first understand the nature and structure of the particular mode of communication that has ceased to function”. The aim should be to apply linguistics to all facets of speech pathology in order to demonstrate the relevance of studying deviant language by comparison with theories of how language functions as a medium of communication. The observations made by linguist and speech therapist, working together on clinical problems, should form a basis for further investigations to be carried on by psy...

Argot, Symbolic Deviance and Subcultural Delinquency

Unlike past studies of subcultural delinquency, which stress the interaction context and focus on behavioral deviance, this study highlights the importance of symbolic (particularly verbal) deviance, both in its own right and for delinquency research. Survey data are presented showing that males are superior in knowledge of deviant language and that the growth of argot knowledge parallels the growth of cognitive consistency and symbol usage, reaching its peak in late adolescence. Four patterns of argot knowledge are identified, but the thesis of subcultural specialization is not supported. Evidence also shows that argot knowledge is related to shared deviant values, and that both indicators of symbolic deviance are related to official and unofficial measures of deviant behavior. These data suggest that police take cognizance of youthful symbolic as well as behavioral deviance.