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September 25, 2005
Language Chapter 2: Question #1
This question is a very interesting one because it seems that the language of each aphasiac is affected differently by disease or trauma. However, some similarities can be found. For example, patients with damage to the front part of the left hemisphere, Broca’s Aphasiacs, tend to have difficulty with diction, syntax, and small function words. On the other hand, patients with damage to the back of the left hemisphere, known as Wernicke’s Aphasiacs, had difficulty with vocabulary and diction. However, their pronunciation and speaking skills were excellent.
In general, the language problems of aphasics seem to be small, but they make a big difference in language. In the examples that were given in the book, the most common problems included misuse of specific parts of speech and difficulty with word order. In general, vocabulary did not seem to pose a problem. Patients had no trouble choosing words that signified what they were trying to convey. In addition, although I was unable to study the pronunciation of the patients, there was no comment about overwhelming mispronunciation by the patients. Thus, although the language of each aphasiac is changed uniquely by trauma or disease, it seems that, in general, grammar and finer points of language are what is lost by aphasics, while a larger sense of vocabulary and general rules of language are maintained.
Posted by lciscotis at September 25, 2005 01:55 PM