ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the different peculiarities of schizophrenic language are explored. The phonological, morphological, and grammatical competences are examined, but they appear to be fundamentally preserved in schizophrenia. Also, the syntactic production does not seem to be damaged; on the contrary, syntax, rather than being simplified or incorrect, can even become hyper-complex. But, the actual peculiarities of schizophrenic language begin to appear when we deal with the semantic level. Phenomena like neologisms, paralogisms, stilted speech, and, above all, speech disorganisation are investigated in detail throughout the chapter. Another domain that is particularly affected in schizophrenia is pragmatics; then, aspects like the context’s use, the ability to take into account the listener’s needs, and the cohesion of discourse are examined. Finally, the last paragraph is dedicated to the non-literal use of language and investigates the way schizophrenics handle figurative language, irony, humour, deception, and other social competences.