Disconnected phonology: a linguistic analysis of phonemic jargon aphasia

This paper reports on indications of the nature of the neurolinguistic connection between phonological and lexical components of language, based on a case of phonemic jargon aphasia. Following bihemispheric embolic infarcts, the subject presented with severe fluent aphasia, characterized by fluent strings of phonemes, with virtually no intelligible utterances. Despite nearly total jargonized output, the fundamental phonological processes of speech were largely intact. Specifically she demonstrated: (1) English phonotactics and English stress-timed rhythmic principles, (2) aspirated stops word-initially and glottalized stops word-finally, (3) utterance final declination of pitch, and (4) stressed syllable vowel lengthening. Additionally, regional-specific (Southern American English) phonological processes, including monophthongization, in-gliding, and front vowel backing, were also preserved. Overall, the investigation reveals an example of an intact phonological rule system operating on a grossly disturbed input (lexical representation).