Speech Therapy Glossary

An acquired language disorder resulting from brain damage that impairs the production and/or comprehension of spoken and written language.

The physical process of using the tongue, lips, teeth, palate, and jaw to produce speech sounds.

The passage of food, liquid, or secretions below the vocal folds into the trachea and lungs during swallowing.

Methods and devices used to supplement or replace spoken language for individuals with severe communication impairments.

A motor speech disorder in which the brain has difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed for speech production.

A congenital condition in which the roof of the mouth does not fully close during fetal development, often affecting speech and feeding.

A fluency disorder characterized by a rapid or irregular speech rate, excessive disfluencies, and often poor awareness of the communication breakdown.

Difficulty with communication that stems from underlying deficits in cognition such as attention, memory, organization, and executive function.

A group of motor speech disorders resulting from weakness, paralysis, or incoordination of the speech musculature.

Difficulty swallowing food, liquid, or saliva that may occur in the oral, pharyngeal, or esophageal phase.

The ability to convey thoughts, ideas, and feelings through spoken words, written text, or gestures.

The smoothness, rate, and effort with which speech is produced. Disorders of fluency include stuttering and cluttering.

Excessive nasal resonance during speech caused by incomplete closure of the velopharyngeal valve, commonly associated with cleft palate.

The degree to which a listener can understand a speaker's message. Reduced intelligibility is a primary concern in many speech disorders.

Impaired comprehension and/or use of spoken, written, or symbolic language involving form (phonology, morphology, syntax), content (semantics), or use (pragmatics).

A measure of linguistic productivity calculated by dividing the total number of morphemes by the total number of utterances in a language sample.

Speech disorders resulting from neurological impairment affecting the motor planning (apraxia) or execution (dysarthria) of speech movements.

The study of the sound system of a language, including the rules governing how sounds are organized and combined.

The branch of linguistics concerned with the social use of language, including conversational rules, nonverbal communication, and contextual appropriateness.

The ability to understand spoken and written language, including vocabulary, grammatical structures, and discourse.

The quality of the voice determined by the vibration of air in the pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities. Disorders include hypernasality and hyponasality.

An umbrella term covering articulation disorders (motor-based errors on individual sounds) and phonological disorders (pattern-based errors affecting sound classes).

A fluency disorder characterized by involuntary repetitions, prolongations, and blocks in speech, often accompanied by secondary physical behaviors.

Inadequate closure of the velopharyngeal valve during speech, resulting in hypernasality and nasal air emission.

An abnormality in vocal pitch, loudness, quality, or resonance that impairs communication or causes concern to the speaker.