[Markers of schizophrenic language. A comparative patholinguistic study of dialogues with schizophrenic, manic, depressive and brain-damaged patients].

Transcripts of dialogues with patients showing schizophrenic, manic, depressive or organic syndromes, 15 persons in each group, were analyzed in order to determine their degree of cohesion and coherence. The cohesion of a text is defined by the grammatical and lexical relation between its elements. Coherence, however, means that the sequence of sentences appears reasonable in the context of communicative action. There is a significantly higher incidence of incoherences in dialogues with schizophrenic patients than in dialogues with patients who show manic, depressive or organic syndromes. Schizophrenic language is conceived as a disorder in the implicitly dialogical structure of texts. This can be proven by these patients' inability to find communicative solutions for misunderstandings emerging during the interview.