ABSTRACT
Dysphemia is defined as intermittent and variable nervous disorders of speech accompanying certain psychoneuroses. Spasmophemia or stuttering is one of the best-known forms of this type of speech disorder. Spasmophemia is characterized by cramps or spasmodic contractions of the muscles concerned in speech, by spasmophilia or by rapid repetition of a word or its initial letter or syllable, and is usually accompanied by the fear of becoming ridiculous. It may take the form of aphemia or dumbness, of para-phemia or neurotic lisping, of spasmophemia or stuttering (stammering); of agitophemia or nervous, agitated speech.
