Speech errors are errors in spontaneous speech and not the product of intentional ungrammaticality or dialects.
They occur when the speaker’s actual utterance differs in some way from the intended utterance, the so called target. The question is what kind of speech errors can occur and how these errors can be explained with the help of different models of speech production.
My termpaper is concerned with different types of speech errors and two important models of speech production by Levelt and Garrett. I will introduce Levelt’s model of speech production first. Then I will explain different types of speech errors with reference to this model. In chapter 4 I will give own examples of German speech errors from everyday life and TV, try to put them into Levelt’s model and explain them. Afterwards I will introduce the speech production model of Garrett and give two examples of speech errors with reference to this model. At the end of this term paper I will to give a short summary and compare the two models briefly.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Levelt’s model of speech production
2.1 SLOTS-AND-FILLERS THEORY
3 Types of speech errors
3.1 BLENDS
3.1.1 Word blends
3.1.2 Phrase blends
3.2 SUBSTITUTIONS
3.2.1 Word substitution
3.2.2 Substitution of one sound for another
3.3 EXCHANGES
3.3.1 Word exchange
3.3.2 Phrase exchange
3.3.3 Exchange of sounds
3.3.4 Exchange of consonant clusters
3.3.5 Exchange of morphemes
3.3.6 Exchange of features
4 Explanation of some speech errors according to Levelt’s model
5 Garrett’s model of speech production
5.1 EXPLANATION OF A FEW SPEECH ERRORS ACCORDING TO GARRETT’S MODEL
6 Summary
Research Objectives and Core Topics
This academic paper explores the cognitive mechanisms underlying spontaneous speech production by analyzing various types of speech errors. It aims to evaluate and apply the psycholinguistic models of Willem Levelt and Merrill Garrett to explain how and why these errors occur during the encoding process.
- Mechanisms of spontaneous speech production and error occurrence.
- Application of Levelt’s "Blueprint for the Speaker" model.
- Classification and analysis of speech errors such as blends, substitutions, and exchanges.
- Comparison between Levelt’s and Garrett’s theoretical frameworks.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.1 Word blends
Word blends are speech errors in which two suitable words fall together and are fused into one word, that means that both words are partially chosen. “Two lemmas are retrieved, which compete for the same syntactic slot” (Levelt 1989, p. 215).
We distinguish between two kinds of word blends: 1) blends with words of similar meaning and 2) blends-by-distraction.
Example of the first type: Irvine is quite clear [close/near] (Fromkin 1973)
In this class of word blends the two mixed words are equivalent in meaning and are both suitable in the context of the sentence. The speaker has these two related concepts in mind and the lemmas for both words are activated almost simultaneously. Then both lexical items are retrieved and are inserted at the same surface-structure slot and the words are blended at the level of phonological processing. Because the two changed words are very similar we say that these blends are due to conceptual intrusion (figure 6.6a). Conceptual intrusion occurs when “lemma selection is disturbed by the simultaneous activity of two or more concepts” (Levelt 1989, p. 214). This happens in the Conceptualizer, where the relevant information is selected.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter defines speech errors as involuntary lapses in spontaneous speech and outlines the focus on the production models of Levelt and Garrett.
2 Levelt’s model of speech production: This section details the components of Levelt’s "Blueprint for the Speaker," including the conceptualizer, formulator, and articulator, and introduces the Slots-and-Fillers Theory.
3 Types of speech errors: This chapter provides a detailed classification of speech errors, focusing on mechanisms like blends, substitutions, and exchanges, supported by linguistic theory.
4 Explanation of some speech errors according to Levelt’s model: The author applies Levelt’s model to real-world examples of German speech errors to demonstrate the framework's explanatory power.
5 Garrett’s model of speech production: This part introduces Merrill Garrett’s serial processing model, highlighting its focus on functional, positional, and sound levels.
6 Summary: The concluding chapter synthesizes the findings and provides a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between the Levelt and Garrett models.
Keywords
Psycholinguistics, speech errors, speech production, Levelt, Garrett, conceptualizer, formulator, articulation, word blends, substitutions, exchange errors, lemma selection, phonological encoding, grammatical encoding, tongue-slips.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this paper?
The paper examines the phenomenon of speech errors as a window into the cognitive processes of human speech production, utilizing established psycholinguistic models.
What are the central thematic fields covered?
The primary themes include cognitive processing in language, speech production architecture, error classification, and the theoretical comparison of Levelt’s and Garrett’s models.
What is the primary objective of this research?
The goal is to explain the underlying causes of various speech errors by mapping them onto specific stages of production, such as lemma selection or phonetic planning, within the models of Levelt and Garrett.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The study uses theoretical analysis of literature combined with the empirical application of existing psycholinguistic models to analyze and explain specific collected examples of speech errors.
What does the main body address?
The main body breaks down the stages of speech production, provides a detailed taxonomy of speech errors, and demonstrates how these errors occur at different levels of the "Blueprint for the Speaker."
What keywords define this work?
Key terms include psycholinguistics, speech errors, lemma selection, conceptual intrusion, and the production models of Levelt and Garrett.
How does the paper differentiate between conceptual and associative intrusion?
Conceptual intrusion involves the simultaneous activation of competing, often related concepts during message generation, whereas associative intrusion stems from semantically related lemmas activated during the encoding process.
What is the significance of the "Unit-Similarity Constraint" mentioned in the text?
This constraint explains that errors often occur because the intruding element shares the same level of representation and grammatical category as the intended target, illustrating why specific types of substitutions or exchanges take place.
- Quote paper
- Jessica Schulze (Author), 2004, Psycholinguistics - Speech errors, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/35422
