[3. Parallel between the Disturbances of Speech in Adults and the
Imperfections of Speech in the Child.]
In undertaking to draw such a parallel, I must first of all state that in regard to the pathology of the subject, I have not much experience of my own, and therefore I rely here upon Kussmaul's comprehensive work on speech-disturbances, from which are taken most of the data that serve to characterize the individual deviations from the rule. In that work also may be found the explanations, or precise definitions, of almost all the names—with the exception of the following, added here for the sake of brevity—skoliophasia, skoliophrasia, and palimphrasia. On the other hand, the statements concerning the speech of the child rest on my own observations of children—especially of my own son—and readers who give their attention to little children may verify them all; most of them, indeed, with ease. Only the examples added for explaining mogilalia and paralalia are taken in part from Sigismund, a few others from Vierordt. They show more plainly (at least concerning rhotacism) than my own notes, some imperfections of articulation of the child in the second year, which occur, however, only in single individuals. In general the defects of child-speech are found to be very unequally distributed among different ages and individuals, so that we can hardly expect to find all the speech-disturbances of adults manifested in typical fashion in one and the same child. But with very careful observation it may be done, notwithstanding; and when several children are compared with one another in this respect, the analogies fairly force themselves upon the observer, and there is no break anywhere.
The whole group into which I have tried to bring in organic connection all the kinds of disturbances and defects of speech in systematic form falls into three divisions:
1. Imperfections not occasioned by disturbance of the intelligence—pure speech-disturbances or lalopathies.
2. Imperfections occasioned solely by disturbances of the intelligence—disturbances of continuous speech or discourse (Rede)—dysphrasies.
3. Imperfections of the language of gesture and feature— dysmimies.
I. LALOPATHY.
A. The Impressive Peripheral Processes Disturbed.
Deafness.—Persons able to speak but who have become deaf do not understand what is spoken simply because they can no longer hear. The newly born do not understand what is spoken because they can not yet hear. The paths o and a are not yet practicable. All those just born are deaf and dumb.
Difficulty of Hearing.—Persons who have become hard of hearing do not understand what is spoken, or they misunderstand, because they no longer hear distinctly. Such individuals easily hear wrong (paracusis).