Speech

(speck). Vocal sounds conveying ideas. S. -center. See Center . S., Disorders of; three principal cla es of speech -disorders may be made: I. Those in which speech is entirely absent, a. Mutism, an inability to utter articulate sound, secondary to a lesion of the auditory apparatus. b. Anarthria, inability to utter articulate sound, due to a cerebral lesion, c. Alalia, inability to utter articulate sound, due to paralysis of the vocal mechanism, d. Apthongia, temporary inability to speak, due to spasm of the hypo glo us. II. Those in which speech is impaired or made difficult through an extra cerebral lesion, Dyslalia, q. v. a. Aphonia, lo of the power of intonation, the faculty of articulation being preserved, b. Stammering, Stuttering, a hesitancy in pronunciation due to a want of promptitude in the vocal mechanism, c. Lalling, the imect pronunciation of letters or words, as by children or inebriated persons. It is due to a want of precision in the vocal mechanism. It includes: I. Slurring, thickne of speech. 2. Mogilalia, the inability to articulate some single letter. Rhotacism, 1 Sigmatacism, Lambdacism, Iotacism, and Gammacism, are subcla es due to the omi ion or defective pro- Spent. Exhausted; impotent. S. Acid, a battery-acid that has become too weak for efficient action.