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Meaning in Jargon Aphasia

1966; Elsevier BV; Volume: 2; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0010-9452(66)80001-1

1973-8102

E. A. Weinstein, Olga G. Lyerly, Malvin Cole, Mark N. Ozer,

Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

Jargon aphasia was studied as communication between speaker and listener rather than in terms of the intrinsic properties of speech. Eighteen cases were compared with 26 standard aphasics. Jargon subjects had bilateral brain involvement, showed other non-aphasic disturbances of language, denied speech difficulty and other deficits, and used jargon selectively, especially when attempting metaphorical representations of problems of disability. They did not show catastrophic reactions and, in the course of clinical improvement, the jargon was replaced by confabulations and forms of idiomatic speech such as clichés, puns and malapropisms. The greater the frequency of such verbalizations, the less was the degree of anxiety and overt concern. On a formal test of linguistic skills the only significant difference was the marked tendency of the jargon group to interpret metaphors in a highly personalized idiom featuring themes of illness and occupation. Jargon aphasia may be regarded as a mixture of aphasia and anosognosia in which a self-referential idiom is incomprehensible in the framework of referential speech.