Connecting lexical patterns of verb usage with discourse meanings in aphasia

The paper describes the impact of lexical patterns found in the discourse of aphasic speakers on overall discourse meanings and ability to participate in everyday genres such as the recount. In particular, the usage of different types of verbs by four aphasic speakers and their functions in the discourse are examined and compared with that of normal control speakers. Results suggest that the semantic patterns of verbs used by aphasic speakers are different from those of normal speakers, leading to restricted variety of meanings conveyed in recounts and for some speakers, restricted communicative functions. Effects of word frequency and imageability are also discussed.