Psycholinguistic Classification
There are few speech errors that clearly fall into only one category. The majority of speech errors can be interpreted in different ways and thus fall into more than one category. For this reason, you are well advised to be skeptical about percentage figures for the different kinds of speech errors. Moreover, the study of speech errors gave rise to different terminologies and different ways of classifying speech errors. Here is a collection of the main types:
| Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Addition | "Additions add linguistic material." | Target: We Error: We and I |
| Anticipation | "A later segment takes the place of an earlier segment." | Target: reading list Error: leading list |
| Blends | Blends are a subcategory of lexical selection errors. More than one item is being considered during speech production. Consequently, the two intended items fuse together. | Target: person/people Error: perple |
| Deletion | Deletions or omissions leave some linguistic material out. | Target: unanimity of opinion Error: unamity of opinion |
| Exchange | Exchanges are double shifts. Two linguistic units change places. | Target: getting your nose remodeled Error: getting your model renosed |
| Lexical selection error | The speaker has "problems with selecting the correct word". | Target: tennis racquet Error: tennis bat |
| Malapropism, classical | The speaker has the wrong beliefs about the meaning of a word. Consequently, he produces the intended word, which is semantically inadequate. Therefore, this is rather a competence error than a performance error. Malapropisms are named after a character from Richard B. Sheridan’s eighteenth-century play “The Rivals”. | Target:The flood damage was so bad they had to evacuate the city. Error: The flood damage was so bad they had to evaporate the city. |
| Metathesis | "Switching of two sounds, each taking the place of the other." | Target: pus pocket Error: pos pucket |
| Morpheme-exchange error | Morphemes change places. | Target: He has already packed two trunks. Error: He has already packs two trunked. |
| Morpheme stranding | Morphemes remain in place but are attached to the wrong words. | Target: He has already packed two trunks. Error: He has already trunked two packs. |
| Omission | cf. deletions | Target: She can’t tell me. Error: She can tell me. |
| Perseveration | "An earlier segment replaces a later item." | Target: black boxes Error: black bloxes |
| Shift | "One speech segment disappears from its appropriate location and appears somewhere else." | Target: She decides to hit it. Error: She decide to hits it. |
| Sound-exchange error | Two sounds switch places. | Target: Night life Error: Knife light |
| Spoonerism | A spoonerism is a kind of metathesis. Switching of initial sounds of two separate words. They are named after Reverend William Archibald Spooner, who probably invented most of his famous spoonerisms. | Target: I saw you light a fire. Error: I saw you fight a liar. |
| Substitution | One segment is replaced by an intruder. The source of the intrusion is not in the sentence. | Target: Where is my tennis racquet? Error: Where is my tennis bat? |
| Word-exchange error | A word-exchange error is a subcategory of lexical selection errors. Two words are switched. | Target: I must let the cat out of the house. Error: I must let the house out of the cat. |
Speech errors can affect different kinds of segments or linguistic units:
| Segment | Example |
|---|---|
| Distinctive or phonetic features | Target: clear blue sky Error: glear plue sky (voicing) |
| Phonemes or sounds | Target: ad hoc Error: odd hack |
| Sequences of sounds | Target:spoon feeding Error: foon speeding |
| Morphemes | Target: sure Error: unsure |
| Words | Target: I hereby deputize you. Error: I hereby jeopardize you. |
| Phrases | Target: The sun is shining./The sky is blue. Error: The sky is shining. |
Read more about this topic: Speech Error