speech and language

Question 1

what is phonetics?

Answer 1

how speech sounds are produced

the acoustic result of speech articulation

Question 2

what is phonology?

Answer 2

how sounds are used to make words

the functions of the sounds within a particular language

Question 3

what are the differences between written and spoken language?

Answer 3

written:

• discrete words separated by spaces
• usually complete with correct spelling
• opportunity to skip, skim or re-read
• needs more thought to make sure it is comprehensible
• more explicit

spoken:

• continuous sequence of sounds, usually without “spaces”
• often damaged, interrupted, parts mumbled
• aim to convey information and also establish the level of the relationship (building communications)

Question 4

what are plosive sounds? what types are there? examples?

Answer 4

plosive sounds are like stop sounds - stop air from flowing

• bilabials - p,b,m
• alveolars - t,d,n
• velars - k,g,ng

*m,n,ng are nasals

Question 5

give examples of fricative sounds.

Answer 5

• voiced and voiceless ‘th’
• f, v
• s, sh

narrow the airway but not fully

Question 6

give examples of affricate sounds.

Answer 6

• ch, j

- sh, seiZure

Question 7

define dialect, sociolect and idiolect.

Answer 7

dialect - particular form of language specific to a group/region

sociolect - dialect of a particular social class

idiolect - speech habits of a particular person

Question 8

what are the five components of language?

Answer 8

Phonology - use of sounds to make meaningful syllables and words

Morphology - the structure of words

Syntax - the rules for putting together a series of words to form sentences

Semantics - word and sentence meanings for what is spoken

Pragmatics - social use of language

Question 9

what is prosody?

Answer 9

the pitch, intensity and timing* of speech

*stress-timed or syllable-timed language

Question 10

what are some of the non-acoustic signals which help us to understand speech/language?

Answer 10

• lip reading
• facial mood and emotion
• culturally grounded gestures
• modifying gestures
• body language
• stress and emphasis

Question 11

what is lateralisation?

Answer 11

the concept that the two hemispheres of the brain function slightly differently and there is a proposed ‘dominant’ hemisphere
In >90% right-handed people and 70% of left-handed people, the left hemisphere is dominant.
left handed individuals tend to recover language functions faster after injury than right-handed people as a result.

Question 12

Which area of the brain is responsible for perception of spoken language?

Answer 12

primary auditory cortex

Question 13

which area of the brain is responsible for comprehension of spoken language?

Answer 13

Wernicke’s area

Question 14

what is the function of Broca’s area?

Answer 14

• production of speech

- initiation of speech via connections to supplementary motor area

Question 15

what is the arcuate fasiculus?

Answer 15

association fibre bundle connecting Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas

Question 16

which area of the brain is responsible for comprehension of written language?

Answer 16

Angular gyrus

auditory version of word is stimulated in Wernicke’s area by angular gyrus which then sends info to Broca’s area

Question 17

what is aphasia?

Answer 17

a disturbance of language formation and comprehension caused by localised brain dysfunction.

the most common causes are traumatic brain injury or stroke. others include tumours, degenerative dementias, de-myelinating disorders and infections.

Question 18

how is Broca’s aphasia different to Wernicke’s aphasia?

Answer 18

speech in Br is non-fluent, effortful and spontaneous while in W it is fluent with normal prosody and articulation.

comprehension is normal in Br but impaired in W

repetition is impaired in both

naming is impaired in both but in Br it can be improved with cues

reading aloud is impaired in both

writing is impaired in Br with poorly formed letters while in W the letters are well-formed but the content is meaningless

the typical localisation of a Br lesion is left-post-inf. frontal cortex while in W it is sup-post temporal region including supra marginal and angular gyro commonly

typical Br pathology arises from stroke of upper division of left middle cerebral artery while typical W pathology is a stoke of the lower division of the left middle cerebral artery

Question 19

what is agraphia?

Answer 19

loss or impairment of writing ability, caused by acquired brain disease

broad classifications are:

• aphasic - agraphia accompanies aphasia
• nonphasic - weakness and disorders of movement, visuospatial function and conversion symptoms

Question 20

describe micrographia and hypergraphia.

Answer 20

micrographia is either consistently small writing or progressively smaller writing
hypergraphia is extensive and compulsive writing

micrographia may be linked to Parkinsoniasm, corticospinal lesions or thalami-mesencephalic infarcts.
hypergraphia may be associated with schizophrenia, mania, interictal partial epilepsy, bilateral frontal injury

Question 21

what is alexia?

Answer 21

a type of sensory aphasia defined as an acquired inability to read. it is also known as word blindness, text blindness or visual aphasia

Question 22

describe the subtypes of alexia (8) and corresponding common lesion sites.

Answer 22

surface dyslexia - read by sound, makes regularization errors, can read non-words. usual lesion site = left medial temporal lobe

phonological dyslexia - reads by sight, difficulties with suffixes, unable to read non-word. usual lesion site = left temporo-parietal lobe

deep dyslexia - reading by either route damaged, semantic errors. usual lesion site = extensive left temporo-parietal lobe

global - slow or inaccurate letter naming, can recognise letters. lesion site = left ventrolateral occipitotemporal or connection and splenium of corpus callosum