ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the patterns of stuttering (the symptoms shown at onset when it persists or recovers) are distributed across speech samples with different linguistic properties (i.e., addressing the question of which language structures are prone to different types of stuttering). In formal terms, linguistic processing involves abstract symbolic elements. The output of language processes are then used to generate motor output. Formal language factors are examined at onset and through the course of the disorder. As well as looking at how linguistic processes relate to stuttering, the chapter also considers how usage of different language structures vary, whether usage properties are linked to stuttering symptoms at onset. Presently there is no work on whether usage factors have different impacts depending on whether a speaker recovers or persists in stuttering. This chapter does not treat the translation of the symbolic language form into speech motor output, as this is considered in Chapter 8, which focuses on the motor system.
