On the origins of recurrent utterances in aphasia.

The origin of the two linguistically distinct recurrent utterance types--real word recurrent utterances (RWRUs) and non-meaningful recurrent utterances (NMRUs) - is discussed. It is argued that the origins of RWRUs may have more to do with post-onset factors than with activities being pursued at the time of onset, and the origins of NMRUs are probably best explained in phonetic terms. It may be the case that the right hemisphere is involved to different degrees in the production of the two linguistically distinct classes of recurrent utterances.