LANGUAGE

Question 1

Glossary of Language Terms

Answer 1

• Mental lexicon = store of information about words
• Orthographic = visual representation of words
• Phonological = sound-­based representation of word
• Morpheme = smallest unit of language that
has meaning (root words, prefixes, suffixes)
• Phoneme = smallest unit of meaningful sound (L/R, ă/ā)
• Semantic = meaning of words
• Syntactic = how words are combined to form sentences (syntax)
• Grammar = structural rules of particular language
• Prosody = rhythm, pitch, intonation of speech

Question 2

Mental lexicon

Answer 2

store of information about words

Question 3

Morpheme

Answer 3

smallest unit of language that has meaning

root words, prefixes, suffixes

Question 4

How do we produce different sounds

(~40 “phonemes” in English)?

Answer 4

– “3 main factors determine the actual speech sound that we produce.

The first factor is voicing, or whether we use our vocal cords to produce a speech sound.
All vowels are voiced (A,E,I,O,U,Y), but not all consonants are.
Examples of voiced consonants are B and M;
examples of unvoiced consonants are S and T.

For consonants, there are 2 other ways to modify
the speech sound. One has to do with the part of the speech apparatus used to produce the sound (point of articulation).
–for example, whether we use both lips ([b]), or the lips and the mouth ([f]).
The other has to do with the manner in which the airstream is changed (manner of articulation); for example, we make a [p] sound by blocking the airstream, whereas [l] hardly obstructs airflow at all.

For vowels, there is another way to modify speech sounds: via placement of the tongue in the mouth. The tongue can be placed high or low, and front or back.”

{No need to memorize this!}

Question 5

Parsing

Answer 5

how to segment sentences in meaningful way

can be ambiguous

Question 6

Reading

Answer 6

How do we recognize words?
– Visual features&raquo_space;> letters / word forms
– Orthographic&raquo_space;> phonetic&raquo_space;> word meaning

Question 7

Language

Disorders

Answer 7

• Aphasias:
– Nonfluent Aphasia (Broca’s/expressive)
– Fluent Aphasia (Wernicke’s/receptive)
– Conduction Aphasia
– Anomia

• Speech:
– Speech Apraxia
– Dysarthria

• Written Language:
– Alexia
– Agraphia
– Dyslexia

Question 8

Aphasia

Answer 8

• Deficit in language comprehension/production
• Neurological damage
• 40% of all strokes cause at least temporary aphasia

Aphasia tends to affect both spoken AND
written language (as well as sign language
production/comprehension in ASL users)

Question 9

Non‐fluent Aphasia (Broca’s)

Answer 9

• Deficit in producing words
• Choppy, single-­‐utterance speech
• Original patient: “Tan” {“tan tan tan”}
• Damage to left inferior frontal lobe

~ Doctor:
Why did you come to the hospital?
~ Patient:
“Ah…Monday… ah Dad and Paul… and Dad… hospital. Two… ah… doctors… and thirty minutes…
and yes… ah… hospital. Wednesday… nine o’clock…
doctors. Two doctors… and ah… teeth. Yeah… fine.”

Question 10

Fluent Aphasia

Wernicke’s

Answer 10

• Deficit in understanding language
• Fluent speech, normal syntax, but nonsensical. Has problems comprehending, but not producing words.
• “word salad”
• Damage to more posterior region

~ Doctor:
Why did you come to the hospital?
~ patient:
“Never, now mista, I wanna tell you this happened
when happened when he rent. His – kell come down here and is – he cot ren something. And he roden all these arranjen from the pedis on from iss pescid.”

Question 11

Anomia

Answer 11

• Form of aphasia
• Inability to recall words / name things
• Speech: fluent, circumlocution

Question 12

Conduction Aphasia

Answer 12

• Damage to Arcuate Fasciculus
(pathway from Wernicke’s to Broca’s)
• Intact comprehension
• Can produce fluent speech but
often makes errors
(can’t correct them)
• Problems repeating speech

Question 13

Speech-­Motor Disorders

Answer 13

• Speech apraxia
– Disorder of motor planning 
(apraxia = action)
– Specific to planning/coordinating
speech sounds
– Not an aphasia /language disorder

• Dysarthria
– Speech motor disorder affecting
muscle control
– Poor articulation, slurred speech
– Not an aphasia / language disorder

Question 14

Speech-­Motor Disorders

Answer 14

• Speech apraxia
– Disorder of motor planning 
(apraxia = action)
– Specific to planning/coordinating speech sounds
– Not an aphasia/language disorder

• Dysarthria
– Speech motor disorder affecting muscle control
– Poor articulation, slurred speech
– Not an aphasia/language disorder

Question 15

Disorders of Written Language

Answer 15

• Alexia
– Inability to read
– Acquired deficit
(neurological damage)

• Dyslexia
– Difficulty/Impairment with reading
– Developmental deficit

• Agraphia
– Inability to write (acquired)
– (Dysgraphia = developmental impairment)

Question 16

Dyslexia

Answer 16

– Difficulty/Impairment with reading

– Developmental deficit

Question 17

fMRI studies of language

Answer 17

Visual word form area:

Greater activation for letters than other visual stimuli
-­‐ Absent/weaker activation in illiterate adults
(also weaker in dyslexic children)

Question 18

ERP studies of language

Answer 18

Area N400 responds to semantic violations.

Area P600 responds to syntactic violations