The syllable as a fundamental sub-lexical unit in phonological paraphasias: evidence from Spanish-speaking aphasic patients

ABSTRACT

Background

Considering that the syllable is a well-defined unit in the Spanish language, we assume that it could be analyzed at the core of phonological paraphasias.

Aims

Identify if the characteristics of the Spanish syllable system are reflected in the production of phonological errors among Spanish-speaking aphasic patients.

Methods & Procedures

Twenty-four Spanish-speaking aphasic patients with different aetiology, severity, and type of aphasia participated in the study. We designed Word and Pseudoword Repetition Tasks controlling for stimuli length, syllable structure frequency, and syllable position.

Outcomes & Results

The production of paraphasias evidences an effect of syllable complexity and syllable frequency, since the CV syllable structure which is the simplest but also the most common one in Spanish, was more resistant to errors. Stimulus length and stimuli lexicality effects were evident since monosyllabic stimuli and words (opposed to pseudowords) triggered fewer errors, respectively. Also, we observed an interaction of length/lexicality, where polysyllabic pseudowords were related to a higher number of errors. Finally, results revealed a strong correlation between the relative frequency of syllable structures in Spanish and the percentage of syllable structures in phonemic paraphasias.

Conclusions

The repetition of words and pseudowords by these Spanish-speaking aphasic patients confirm that their phonological errors are related to the syllabic system of the Spanish language. This finding has implications when assessing Spanish-speaking aphasic patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Phonological paraphasias
• repetition
• syllable structure
• aphasia
• Spanish language

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Héctor Velázquez, Dr. Paul Trejo, Dr. José Luis Ruiz-Sandoval, Diana López, Ph.D., and Gerardo Aguilera, M.Sc., for referring patients. We also thank all the patients for their participation in this study. The first author received an M.Sc. fellowship from CONACyT (#515351).

Disclosure of interest

The authors report that there are no competing interests to declare.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [515351].

Notes on contributors

Ana Karen Preciado Barón

Ana Karen Preciado-Barón Instituto de Neurociencias, CUCBA Universidad de Guadalajara, Francisco de Quevedo 180. Arcos Vallarta. P.C. 44130. Guadalajara, Jalisco, México.

Mario Treviño

Mario Treviño, Ph.D. Instituto de Neurociencias, CUCBA Universidad de Guadalajara, Francisco de Quevedo 180. Arcos Vallarta. P.C. 44130. Guadalajara, Jalisco, México.

Ramiro López Elizalde

Ramiro López-Elizalde Medical Management, Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado. Av. San Fernando 547, 8^th floor, Tlalpan, C.P. 14050, Mexico City, México.