The case of substitutions in adult aphasia and in typical acquisition of French

Abstract

Abstract The starting point of this chapter is Jakobson’s proposal (1968) that a parallel can be drawn between the phonological system in acquisition and aphasia. We discuss the evidence that the observation of this parallel between acquisition and speech pathology can help achieve a new definition of complexity for the architecture of the French phonological system. We explore substitution errors for place of articulations deployed by French children and adult participants with aphasia. To explain these phenomena, we argue that Element Theory can provide a direct measure of complexity and markedness. We investigate how data can furnish new points of view on Element Theory. Then we explore and evaluate this theoretical framework. We conclude that substitutions result from adjustments and parameter-setting in the underlying structure of language.