Chapter 9: Language

Question 1

What is according to Crystal (1992) the definition of language?

Answer 1

• Language = the systematic and conventional use of sounds, signs or written symbols for communication and self-expression in a society.

Question 2

When does speech occur?

Answer 2

• When we transform a stream of air through coordinated movements of our articulatory organs into sounds that can differ from each other in timbre (tone colour) and noise, among other things.
• Speech is a medium for transmitting messages encoded in language.

Question 3

What are the articulatory organs?

Answer 3

• Larynx (= strottenhoofd),
• Tongue,
• Lower jaw,
• And the lips.

Question 4

What means ‘systematic’ in the definition of language?

Answer 4

• Systematic = language is bound by rules. This is true at the level of an individual language, but also at the level of family similarities between languages.

Question 5

What means ‘conventional’ in the definition of language?

Answer 5

• Conventional = indicates that language is based on conventions (= overeenkomsten). These are implicit conventions in a language community.
• For example the convention that the word ‘cow’ refers to a lactating and mooing animal.

Question 6

What means ‘symbol’ in the definition of language?

Answer 6

• Symbol = words are symbols, because they refer to a concept. The relationship between word (form_ and concept is arbitrary.

Question 7

What is the mental lexicon?

Answer 7

• The mental lexicon = the part of the semantic (long-term) memory in which the words we know or recognize and use are stored.
• This includes the mother tongue, but also words from other languages that are learned later, as well as all language constructions whose meaning cannot be deduced by rules from the meanings of the constituent words.
• Each of these words has a representation or entry in the mental lexicon.

Question 8

What 3 types of information do the entries in the mental lexicon contain, and what do they mean?

Answer 8

1. Meaning properties = each word is associated with a concept that involves the defining and characteristic properties of the class of things, creatures, or events in question.
2. Grammatical properties = words are assembled into word groups and sentences according to grammatical rules. These rules do not refer to individual words, but to grammatical categories.
3. Form properties = in spoken language, word forms are presented in the lexicon by means of abstract sound units called phonemes.

Question 9

What are phonemes?

Answer 9

• Phonemes = abstract in the sense that they equal aal kinds of variation in physical realization. Any language has 40-45 phonemes.

Question 10

What is parsing?

Answer 10

• Parsing = resolving a sentence into its component parts and describing their syntactic roles.

Question 11

What is the process for understanding spoken language (aka parsing)?

Answer 11

1. Brain mechanisms transform different sounds produced by a speaker into a meaning and the intention behind it.
2. Sounds are represented as a wave motion and enter the senses.
3. The speech sounds first have to be analyzed in terms of the distribution of energy in the acoustic spectrum and its fluctuations over time.
4. The speech sounds (phonemes) are identified.
5. Based on a recognized phoneme series, the mental lexicon is searched for word forms that match this series.
6. For each word it will have to be decided how it relates to the preceding and following words.

Question 12

How does Levelt’s model of language production explains how language is produced?

Answer 12

1. Speaking begins with choosing a message to communicate. The mechanism responsible for this is the conceptualizer. The message contains enough information to activate words in the lexicon, with their grammatical and phonological properties.
2. The formulator uses the grammatical properties of the words activated by the preverbal message to form a grammatically well-formed sequence. This is called grammatical encoding.
3. The sequence is provided with sound information, a process called phonological encoding.
4. The phonemes associated with the arranged words are sequenced and the word forms are adapted to what precedes and follows them. This representation is translated by the articulator into movement instructions for the articulatory organs.
5. The language production system contains a self-monitoring system. This monitor can check a spoken utterance for all kinds of aspects. Contains of:
   - An external loop = realized audible speech.
   - An internal loop = the final product of the formulator is inspected before its transmitted to the articulator.

Question 13

What is aphasia?

Answer 13

• Aphasia = literally means not speaking and its a collective name for acquired language disorders that usually manifest itself in all modalities:
• Listening,
• Speaking,
• Reading,
• And writing.

Question 14

What are the most common causes of aphasia and what do they have in common?

Answer 14

• The most common cause of aphasia is stroke.
• Other causes of aphasia may be traumatic brain injury or a tumor.
• The causes have in common that they produce more or less focal, localized trauma.

Question 15

What is a specific language impairment (SLI)?

Answer 15

• SLI = when the language functions are not well developed from an early age.

Question 16

What are paraphasias?

Answer 16

• Paraphasias = the kind of substitutions the patient with aphasia makes that provide information about the word-finding problems that can arise at different levels of language production, in activating the heading or in realizing the phonological form.

Question 17

What are lexical paraphasias?

Answer 17

• Lexical paraphasias = patients resolve their word-finding problem by either semantic paraphasia or empty speech.

Question 18

What is semantic paraphasia?

Answer 18

• Semantic paraphasia = the target word is replaced by another existing word, that is often (but not always) in meaning related to the target word.
• “I drove to work in my car” –> “ I drove to work in my wagon”

Question 19

What is empty speech?

Answer 19

• Empty speech = the target word is replaced by an unrelated or meaning word, and this is don frequently.
• “I drove to work in my car” –> “I drove to work in my lar”

Question 20

What are phonological paraphasias?

Answer 20

• Phonological paraphasias = one or more sounds of the target word are omitted or substituted with other sounds.
• If many sounds are substituted or omitted, it’s called neologism.
• If a patient produce many neologisms, it’s called jargon.

Question 21

What is non-propositional speech?

Answer 21

• Non-propositional speech = in very severe aphasia, meaningful language is often (almost) completely absent. If the patient still speaks we often see one or more of the following of automatic speech:
• Stereotyping,
• Recurring utterances,
• Serial speech,
• Echolalia,
• Or preservation.

Question 22

What is stereotyping?

Answer 22

• Stereotyping = a form of non-propositional speech in which expressions that carry little meaning are irrelevant in communication.

Question 23

What are recurring utterances?

Answer 23

• Recurring utterances = a form of non-propositional speech in which limited number of the same utterances in various situations occur.

Question 24

What is serial speech?

Answer 24

• Serial speech = a form of non-propositional speech in which commonly used, well-memorized sequenced can be completed, serial speech can be used rarely.

Question 25

What is echolalia?

Answer 25

• Echolalia = a form of non-propositional speech in which phrases or word from the interlocutor (gesprekspartner) are repeated.

Question 26

What is preservation?

Answer 26

• Preservation = a form of non-propositional speech in which words or phrases are involuntary repeated.

Question 27

What are sentence structure problems?

Answer 27

• Sentence structure problems = in addition to selecting the right words, aphasia patients often have difficulty with sentence structure. There are 2 phenomena in this area:

1. Agrammatism.
2. Paragrammatism.

Question 28

What is agrammatism?

Answer 28

• Agrammatism = aphasia patients with sentence structure problems with agrammatism have great difficulty in applying grammatical knowledge to speech and sometime to understanding.

*The grammatical repertoire is limited.

• There is also talk of telegram style. This is when complex sentences are often almost completely lacking.

Question 29

What is paragrammatism?

Answer 29

• Paragrammatism = aphasias patients with sentence structure problems with paragrammatism are difficult to understand, because their sentences are too long and complex.
• Because of the large number of paraphasias and because of the incorrect use of conjugations, inflections and function words they are difficult to understand.
• This is reinforced by frequent premature breaks and changes in expressions and by the blending of different expressions.

Question 30

What types of language comprehension disorders are there?

Answer 30

1. Language comprehension disorder with difficulty in distinguishing speech sounds (phonemes).
   - E.g., if a patient has to point out a picture of a bag and the picture shows both a bag and a tie, the patient finds it difficult to choose.
2. Language comprehension disorder at the level of word meaning.
   - E.g., a patient hearing the word ‘jellyfish’, points out a lobster.

Question 31

What does agrammatic understanding mean?

Answer 31

• Agrammatic understanding = when patients with aphasia have difficulty with understanding complete sentences. Especially sentences that can only be understood well on the basis of their grammatical structure.

Question 32

What are the classifications of aphasia?

Answer 32

1. Broca’s aphasia,
2. Wernicke’s aphasia,
3. Conduction aphasia,
4. Transcortical aphasias,
5. Global aphasia,
6. And amnestic aphasia.

Question 33

What is Broca’s aphasia?

Answer 33

• Broca’s aphasia = also known as expressive aphasia or nonfluent aphasia, is a language disorder characterized by difficulty in producing speech or writing.
• It is typically caused by damage to Broca’s area, a region of the frontal lobe in the left hemisphere of the brain.
• Individuals with Broca’s aphasia often have intact comprehension but struggle with forming grammatically correct sentences and may experience reduced vocabulary and limited speech fluency.

Question 34

What is Wernicke’s aphasia?

Answer 34

• Wernicke’s aphasia = also known as receptive aphasia or fluent aphasia, is a language disorder characterized by difficulties in understanding and producing meaningful speech.
• It is typically caused by damage to Wernicke’s area, a region in the left hemisphere of the brain associated with language processing.
• Individuals with Wernicke’s aphasia may speak fluently but produce sentences that lack meaning or contain nonsensical words (paraphasia).
• They often have poor language comprehension and may struggle to understand spoken or written language.

Question 35

What is conduction aphasia?

Answer 35

• Conduction aphasia = a language disorder characterized by difficulties in repeating words or phrases despite relatively preserved speech production and comprehension.
• It is typically caused by damage to the arcuate fasciculus, a neural pathway that connects Broca’s area (responsible for speech production) and Wernicke’s area (responsible for language comprehension).
• Individuals with conduction aphasia may have difficulty with word retrieval and may make errors when attempting to repeat words or sentences.
• Their spontaneous speech and comprehension are generally intact, but they exhibit specific challenges with the repetition aspect of language.

Question 36

What is transcortical aphasia?

Answer 36

• Transcortical aphasia = a language disorder characterized by difficulty in producing fluent speech and comprehending language, while the ability to repeat words or phrases remains intact.
• It is caused by damage to brain areas surrounding the language centers, known as the language association cortex, rather than directly affecting those centers themselves.
• There are three main types of transcortical aphasia:
  1. Transcortical motor aphasia,
  2. Transcortical sensory aphasia,
  3. And mixed transcortical aphasia.
• The preservation of repetition distinguishes transcortical aphasia from other types of aphasia.

Question 37

What is transcortical motor aphasia?

Answer 37

• Transcortical motor aphasia = characterized by non-fluent speech with intact repetition and comprehension.

Question 38

What is transcortical sensory aphasia?

Answer 38

• Transcortical sensory aphasia = involves fluent speech with impaired comprehension and intact repetition.

Question 39

What is mixed transcortical aphasia?

Answer 39

Mixed transcortical aphasia = combines features of both transcortical sensory and motor aphasia.

Question 40

What is global aphasia?

Answer 40

• Global aphasia = a severe form of language impairment that affects all aspects of language processing, including speaking, understanding, and reading.
• It is typically caused by extensive damage to multiple language areas in the brain, often resulting from a large stroke or brain injury.
• Individuals with global aphasia struggle to produce coherent speech, have difficulty understanding spoken and written language, and may experience challenges with reading and writing.
• The condition significantly impairs communication abilities, leading to profound difficulties in expressing thoughts and understanding others.
• Rehabilitation and speech therapy are often used to help individuals with global aphasia regain some language function and improve communication skills.

Question 41

What is amnestic aphasia?

Answer 41

• Amnestic aphasia = a type of aphasia characterized by difficulties in finding and retrieving words.
• Patients with amnestic aphasia typically have intact language comprehension and fluency, without significant issues in grammar or speech production.
• However, they may experience word-finding difficulties, especially with nouns.

Question 42

Which 2 types of speech disorders are there?

Answer 42

1. (Verbal) dyspraxia
2. Dysarthria

Question 43

What is (verbal) dyspraxia?

Answer 43

• (Verbal) dyspraxia = a disorder in the programming of articulatory movements.
• In the purest form, the language system is not affected and there is nothing wrong with the articulators.
• For patients, long words are more difficult than shorts words, and clusters of consonants (medeklinkers) are also very difficult.
• The articulatory movements are often imprecise and uncoordinated.

Question 44

What is dysarthria?

Answer 44

• Dysarthria = a collective term for speech disorders caused by poor control of the articulatory muscles due to damage in the central or peripheral nervous system or the muscles themselves.
• the location and severity of the damage determine the form and severity of the speech problem.
• Six forms of dysarthria can be distinguished:
  1. Spastic,
  2. Flaccid,
  3. Atactic,
  4. Hypokenetic,
  5. Hyperkenetic,
  6. And mixed dysarthria.

Question 45

What is the collective name of reading disorders and which types are there?

Answer 45

• Acquired dyslexia = the collective name of reading disorders that are caused by brain damage.
• The different types of acquired dyslexia are:
  1. Attention-deficit dyslexia,
  2. Neglect or positional dyslexia,
  3. Semantic or deep dyslexia,
  4. Phonological dyslexia,
  5. And surface or surface dyslexia.

Question 46

What is attention-deficit dyslexia?

Answer 46

• Attention-deficit dyslexia = patients cannot name individual letters, especially when they’re presented in combination with other letters.

Question 47

What is neglect or positional dyslexia?

Answer 47

• Neglect or positional dyslexia = when patients make mistakes by misreading mainly letters of a certain half of a word.

Question 48

What is semantic or deep dyslexia?

Answer 48

• Semantic or deep dyslexia = when patients make errors in reading words by naming a semantically related word instead of the written word.

Question 49

What is phonological dyslexia?

Answer 49

• Phonological dyslexia = patients can read existing words, but cannot read pseudowords (fake words).

Question 50

What is surface or surface dyslexia?

Answer 50

• Surface or surface dyslexia = patients can read pseudowords, but they read regularly spelled words clearly much better than irregularly spelled words.

Question 51

What is dysgraphia and which types are there?

Answer 51

• Dysgraphia = writing disorders caused by brain damage.
• The different types of dysgraphia are:
  1. Phonological dysgraphia,
  2. Surface or surface dysgraphia,
  3. And graphical buffer dysgraphia.

Question 52

What is phonological dysgraphia?

Answer 52

• Phonological dysgraphia = when pseudowords can no longer be written, because the phoneme-grapheme conversion no longer functions.

Question 53

What is surface or surface dysgraphia?

Answer 53

• Surface or surface dysgraphia = regularly spelled words are clearly written better than irregular ones, and the latter are often written in a way that would be possible according to phoneme correspondence rules.

Question 54

What is graphical buffer dysgraphia?

Answer 54

• Graphical buffer dysgraphia = the word form is still largely intact, but the letter order is wrong or letters are replaced by others. This occurs both with writing words and pseudowords.