Did I Stutter or Did I Stammer? - Toronto Adult Speech Clinic

“Stutter” sounds like getting stuck in a loop to me- like repetitive speech patterns (di-di-di-did I stutter). “Stammer” sounds like just plain ... Services OurTeam VirtualCare AboutTASC ContactUs BookanAppointment Back OurServices VoiceTherapy MassageandManualTherapy Stuttering AccentModification GenderAffirmingCommunication LispTherapy ProfessionalCommunication SingingVoiceTherapy VoiceTrainingforFitPros Back WhyTASC? FAQs Blog DidIStutterorDidIStammer? DidIStutterorDidIStammer?AnInvestigationtoInformStutteringTherapyandStammeringTherapyforAdults So…Whatisthedifferencebetweenastutterandastammer?Wellthefirstquestionthatisimportanttoansweris-whydoesadifferencematter?Formanypeople(notjustpeoplewhostutterorstammer)havinganameordiagnosishelpsthemfeelmoreincontrolorliketheyhaveabetterunderstandingoftheconceptinquestion.Ifthatisthesolaceyouseekinfindingadifferencebetweenthewordsstutteringandstammering-stophere-youwillnotfinditinthispostoranywhereelseinscientificliterature. Why?Becausefunctionallythereisnodifferencebetweenthewords.Bothstutter andstammer areusedinterchangeablyintheworldofspeech-languagepathologytodescribeaspeechdisorderinwhichapersonpresentswith“dysfluent,”halted,and/orrepetitivepatternsintheirspeech.Thatbeingsaid,thewordsare different,andwhenevertherearetwodifferentwordsinthesamelanguagethatmeanthesamething-ournatureistorejectthiscoincidenceandembarkonajourneytoexplainawaythesimilarities.IthinkthisquotationbyAlanCrusesumsitupnicely:"Naturallanguagesabhorabsolutesynonymsjustasnatureabhorsavacuum" Solet’stakeacloserlookatmyexperiencewith"stutter"vs."stammer"Manypeoplewhostutterorstammerhaveaskedifthereisadifferenceinmeaningbetweenthewords.Theywillaskmetotellthemwhether,inmyprofessionalopinion,theyare“apersonwhostammers”or“apersonwhostutters.”Insomecases,theyhaveevendevelopedtheirowndefinitionsorreadnovelsbypeoplelikeDavidMitchellwhoinsistthat“Mostpeoplethinkstutteringandstammeringarethesamebutthey’reasdifferentasdiarrhoeaandconstipation.”(takenfrom“BlackSwanGreen”)Inthisnovel,andinmanyarticlesthatcanbefoundbysearchingGooglefor“Stammeringvs.Stuttering,”thereisasuggestionthatthenamesarerelatedbutnotsynonymous-infact,incaseslikeMitchell’sdefinitions,itisapparentthathewouldarguethatstutteringandstammeringareclosertoantonymsthansynonyms.Iwillbehonest-thefirstclientwhosatinmyofficeanddeclaredtheyhada“stammer”confusedme.IwenttoschoolattheUniversityofTorontoandhadneverheardtheterm“stammer”inanyofmyspeechpathologytraining.Irejectedthepossibilitythatbothwordsweretheexactsame(asisourobsessivelycategorizingnatureashumans)andbegantomakeassumptionsaboutcharacteristicsorusesforthetwowordsthatweredifferent.“Stutter”soundslikegettingstuckinalooptome-likerepetitivespeechpatterns(di-di-di-didIstutter).“Stammer”soundslikejustplaingettingstuck-difficultygettingwordsoutaltogether.Completelyirrationalandnotbasedinanyfactsorresearch,butneverthelessmymindburrowedbetweenthesetwowordsinanattempttoextractsomedifferences.Thatisnottosayitwasgoingtoimpactmytreatmentdecisionsinanyway-butIwasclearlyuncomfortablewithoutsearchingforsomesortofdistinction.Thenanotherclientcameinusingthisterminology,andanother,andanother.Atthispoint,mypassionatecuriosityforlinguisticsandetymology(theoriginofwords)gotthebestofme.Ihittheresearchhard. Here’swhatIfoundoutaboutstammeringvs.stutteringStammer:OriginatedinOldEnglishfromthewordstamerianmeaning“stumble.”ResourcesIcouldfindsuggestthatthiswordoriginatedfirstasanouninthelate18thcentury.Priortothat,thereappearstobeevidencefromotherlanguagesofsimilarverbsto“stammering”inlanguagessuchasMiddleDutchandDutchstameren,OldHighGermanstammalon,andGermanstammeln,suggestedtoberelatedtotheadjectiveformsinOldFrisianandGermanstummmeaning“mute.”Around1950-1960therewasanotabledeclineintheuseofthewordstammerinNorthAmericaasitwasreplacedbythewordstutter.Now,themostcommonusesofstammerasitrelatestosomeone’sspeechareinclinicalpracticeandliteraturefromtheUK,Ireland,andIndia(accordingtostammering.org-anexcellentresourceformoreinformationonstutteringorstammering).Stutter:SupposedlyGermanicinoriginandacombinationofstut(t)inEnglishwiththeGermanwordstossen(meaningtostrikeagainst).Interestingly,incontrasttotheoriginofthewordstammer,stutteroriginatedfirstasaverbinthe1560s.Itissuggestedthatbeforethen(inthelate14thcentury)theMiddleEnglishwordforstutterwasstutten.Itwasnotuntilapproximately1854thatstutterwasusedasanoun.Today,themostcommonusesofstutterasitrelatestosomeone’sspeechareinclinicalpracticeandliteraturefromNorthAmericaandAustralia.WhenIresearchedalittlemoreintothiswordIstartedfindingrelatedororiginwordsthatweresimilartohowpeoplewhostutterdescribetheirexperience:-German:stutzenmeaningtohesitateortocutshort-Dutch:stuitenmeaningtostoportoarrest-Proto-germanic:staut-meaningtopushorthrust-MiddleLowGerman:stotenmeaningtocollideSo,whiletheuseofthesewordsinmodernspeech-languagepathologysuggestthatstutteringandstammeringarethesame,itisalwaysinterestingtothinkabouttheoriginofdifferentwords-particularlyiftheyappeartobeusedinsimilarways.Inthisoriginstoryforexample,welearnedthattheoriginsofthesewords(stutterandstammer)aresomewhatuniquebutthatbothwordslikelycamefromthedescriptionofexperiencesofpeoplewhostuttered,stammered,orobservedthesepatternsinthespeechofothers.Thisactsasaremindertobothspeechtherapistsandpeopleseekingspeechtherapyaliketonevergetboggeddownbyasimpleone-worddiagnosis.Wemustlookbeyondtothecharacteristicsandadeeperunderstandingofthespeechtoensureappropriateandinformedstuttering(orstammering)assessmentandtreatment.Formoreinformationontheevidence-basedstutteringtherapy(orstammeringtherapy)offeredatTorontoAdultSpeechClinic,clickhere.Youcanalsoreadmoredetailsonstutteringandstammeringfromtheresourcesthathelpedinformthispostbelow:http://www.stammering.org/http://www.stutter.ca/http://www.stutteringhelp.org/adultshttps://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.ca/2011/01/stammering-and-stuttering.htmlhttp://www.etymonline.com/ JordanSchollFebruary6,2017fluencydisorders,fluentspeech,torontospeechtherapy,adultstammering,stutteringstrategies,fluencytherapy,adultswhostutter,stammeringstrategies,speechtherapyforadults,stammeringtherapy,adultspeechservices,stutter,adultstuttering,stutteringtherapy,dysfluency,stammer,adultswhostammer Facebook0 Twitter LinkedIn0 Reddit Pinterest0 0Likes Previous SingingandtheSpeakingVoice JordanSchollApril18,2017singingvoicetherapy,speakingvoicetherapy,talking,voiceprojection,professionalvoice,resonancetraining,speechtherapyforadults Next ForeignAccentsandEnglish-ProfessionalConsiderationsforAccentModification JordanSchollJanuary17,2017TorontoAdultSpeechClinicadultspeechtherapy,adultcommunication,accentmodification,accentreduction,speechlanguagetherapy,torontospeechtherapy,communicationskills,communicatingwithconfidence