Repetitiveness in language disorders: a new analytical procedure

A common feature of a wide range of language disorders is the tendency to repeat a particular linguistic form-or set of forms-with abnormal frequency. A brief overview is given of the different ways in which disordered language can be repetitive, and the nature of stereotyped and repetitive language is discussed in terms of the reciprocal relationship between frequency of occurrence and productivity. It is argued that measures such as lexical type-token ratio provide only a partial picture of repetitive language, and that linguistic units larger than the word also need to be taken into consideration. An analytical framework incorporating such units is proposed, which is able to characterize and quantify the extent to which a sample of language is repetitive independently of its aetiology. An illustrative analysis is given of a language sample from a brain-damaged adult, and the repetitiveness profiles of four different patients are compared.