Semantic dementia in Arabic: An assessment of Arabic word reading within sentences

Language impairments have not yet been fully explored in native Arabic speakers with semantic dementia (SD). The aim of this paper is to describe the impairments in language in two Saudi Arabians with SD and to determine if their word reading within a sentence context would result in incorrect responses.

Two patients with semantic dementia (one with right > left and the other with left > right temporal involvement) underwent a reading assessment in Arabic. Patients were asked to read a series of words within a sentence context in which the correct reading of the word was dependent on the context of the sentence. Thirty-four sentences were designed in which 17 Arabic homographs were used. The same homograph would occur in two separate sentences, in which the pronunciation and meaning would differ between sentences. Patients were also assessed using five other sentences that contained irregular pronouns of high frequency. Eighteen healthy controls were used as reference.

Both patients made errors in reading the target Arabic homographs; this was more pronounced in the patient with left > right variant of SD. The patient with right > left variant of SD also suffered from prosopagnosia.

Correct reading of Arabic words within the sentence context may be impaired from semantic language impairments in semantic dementia. The role of comprehension in the correct reading of words in Arabic sentences is important.