Language deviations in aphasia: a frequency analysis.

Thirty right-handed left hemisphere-damaged patients were taken and divided into five groups (transcortical motor, Broca, conduction, Wernicke, and anomic aphasia). Language deviations were scored and analyzed for the Picture Description (Plate No. 1, The Cookie Theft), Repetition (Words, High and Low Probability Sentences), and Naming (Responsive Naming, Confrontation, and Body-part naming) subtests of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination--Spanish version (Goodglass & Kaplan, 1979). A classification of paraphasias is proposed. Language deviations were scores for the following groups: Literal paraphasias (phoneme omissions, additions, displacements, and substitutions), verbal paraphasias (formal, morphologic, semantic, and unrelated), syntagmatic paraphasias, circumlocutions (object description and instrumental function), indefinite anaphors, and neologisms. Frequency of different types of language deviations is presented in the five aphasia groups. It was found that some paraphasic errors appeared in several aphasia groups; others were characteristics of specific aphasic syndromes.