Disorders of Syntax and MorphologyMajor Language AreasAgrammatismAgrammatism vs. ParagrammatismOmission vs. DeletionBroca’s AphasiaVerbal short-term memory deficit (in Broca aphasia)Subtypes of Broca aphasiaAgrammatism: an early observation (1819)Example of agrammatic speechSome features of agrammatismProblems in the study of agrammatismSyntaxStability of word order in agrammatismReading and writing in agrammatismVariation among agrammatics (Goodglass 1993:107)Loss of the use of relational markers in receptive agrammatism (118)Linguistic structure in the cortex: What we learn from agrammatismReceptive processing in Broca’s aphasia?Receptive agrammatism in Broca’s aphasia Two avenues to explanationFor perspective, A related problem: ImageryVisual ImageryAuditory ImageryHow Imagery OperatesAnatomical consequencesBidirectional ProcessingBidirectional ConnectionsBidirectional Processing in Frontal Lobe?Bidirectional connections in frontal lobeAttempts to explain agrammatismCaution in interpretingPhonological factorsMore evidence on relational markers (119f)Nouns and Verbs: Back Brain & Front Brain (?)Proceed with Caution!A patient with non-fluent aphasiaVerb deficit and agrammatism: Why?Noun-Verb vis-à-vis Speech & Writing (908b)More on H.W. & S.J.D. Noun-Verb vis-à-vis Speech-Writing (Rapp & Caramazza 908-9)Broca’s Area: A closer lookSubdivisions of Broca’s areaFrontal OperculumSlide 43Slide 44Left hemi-sphere, showing middle cerebral arteryA closer look at Broca’s aphasiaMore recent findingsBroca’s area and Broca aphasiaThree subtypes in Alexander studyTo be continued …Disorders of Syntax and MorphologyLing 411 – 08Goodglass 1993: Chapter 6Major Language AreasSuperior parietal lobuleExner’s areaBroca’s areaWernicke’s area Angular gyrus(Geschwinds’s area) Supramarginal gyrus (Goldstein’s area)AgrammatismUsually associated with Broca’s aphasiaGenerally present in Broca’s aphasiaBut other aphasics also have grammatical dysfunctions•Paragrammatism – common in Wernicke aphasiaA lot of variation among different patientsAgrammatism vs. ParagrammatismParagrammatism – too much speech•Normal or excessive fluency•Use of inappropriate words•Neologisms•No lack of function words and inflectionsBut not always used appropriately•Common in Wernicke’s aphasiaAgrammatism – not enough speech•Lack of fluency•Omission (NOT deletion!) of function words and inflections•Common in Broca’s aphasiaOmission vs. DeletionGoodglass (106): •Sentences with a deleted main verb (“Joan and I . . . Coffee”) may continue to appear.•. . . misuse or deletions of morphology . . . Is he talking about deletion or omission?Deletion implies that it was first there, and then removedOmission – it wasn’t put in at allGoodglass is following a practice that was common among linguists at the time he wrote the bookBroca’s AphasiaDamage to frontal lobe•Mainly, inferior frontal gyrusLargely intact comprehensionNonfluent, agrammatic speech“Telegraphic speech” – •Abundance of content words (e.g., nouns) •Lack of function words (e.g. prepositions)Impaired verb processing•Bates, Chen, Tzeng, Li & Opie, 1991; Damasio & Tranel, 1993; Daniele, Giustolisi, Silveri, Colosimo & Gainotti, 1994; Lamb & Zhang, 2010; Shapiro & Caramazza, 2003Verbal short-term memory deficit(in Broca aphasia)Patients can readily point to individual objects or body parts named by the examinerBut when asked to point to the same items in a specific sequence they often fail at the level of only two or three itemsBenson & Ardila 124How to explain?Subtypes of Broca aphasiaType I•A.k.a. little Broca aphasia•Milder defects•Less extensive damage•Better prognosisType II •Symptoms worse•More extensive damageThese are not distinct, but variations•Two spans along a scaleAgrammatism: an early observation (1819)Deleuze (1819), referring to a French-speaking patient: The patient “used exclusively the infinitive of verbs and used no pronouns. … She produced absolutely no conjugated verb.” Goodglass 1993: 104Example of agrammatic speechExaminer: Can you tell me about why you came back to the hospital?Patient: yes … eh … Monday … eh … dad … Peter Hogan and dad … hospital. Er … two … er … doctors … and … er … thirty minutes … and ... er … yes … hospital. And … er … Wednesday … Wednesday. Nine o’clock. And … er … Thursday, ten o’clock … doctors … two … two … doctors… and … er … teeth … fine.E: Not exactly your teeth … your g-P: Gum … gum …E: What did they do to them?P: And er … doctor and girl … and er … and er gum …Goodglass 1993: 107Some features of agrammatismTelegraphic speech•Short utterances•Omission of grammatical functorsRelative abundance of substantivesVerbs are uncommon, rare in some patients•When present, uninflected or –ing formFor French aphasics, infinitive formUse of word order is generally sparedComprehension is impaired for complex sentencesProblems in the study of agrammatismMust be distinguished from paragrammatismGrammatical aberrations – even among Broca aphasics – vary from patient to patientLinguistics has not (yet) provided clear answers to important basic questions: •What normal grammatical functions are •How they operateSyntaxFirst, we need to dispel the notion that syntax is one capacity, that can be lost (or spared) as a unitSyntax can be understood as a set of constructions•Learned by children (and others) one by oneLike vocabulary•Some can be lost, others spared, in aphasiaIt is a label of the grammarian for multiple thingsWord order is often spared in Broca’s aphasia while a lot of syntax is lostStability of word order in agrammatismAgrammatic patients can usually handle word order in both production and comprehensionEvidence (comprehension)•passive sentences misconstrued•The horse was kicked by the dogBroca’s aphasic: horse as kickerPassive marker not apprehended•Canonical word order guides the interpretationPossibly aided by conceptual knowledgeReading and writing in agrammatismAgrammatic difficulties are also seen in•Oral reading•Writing to dictation•Repetition But: •Some patients are agrammatic in speech but not in writing (Goodglass 1993: 110)•Some can repeat correctly•How to explain?Menn &