A Collection of Speech Errors Grouped by Type
(note : this is not a list of all possible types)
Production Errors
ANTICIPATIONS
table of contents ---> cable of contents (sound)
sidewalk ---> widewalk (sound)
chocolate chip cookie dough ---> chocolate dough cookie dough (word)
a stitch in time saves nine ---> a stitch in nine saves nine (word)
PERSEVERATION
walk the beach ---> walk the beak (sound)
the rule of thumb ---> the rule of rum (sound)
a book read by six people ---> a book read by 6 books
leave no stone unturned ---> leave no stone unstoned
EXCHANGE (METATHESIS)
clean and bright ---> glean and pright (voicing feature)
officer ---> ossifer (sound) [aw-fi-ser ---> aw-si-fer]
thunder and lightning ---> lunder and thightning (sound)
chimichangas ---> chichimangas (sound)
slippery crags ---> crippery slags (cluster of sounds)
Are my keys in the door? ---> Are my doors in the key? (word)
I went to Betsy's baby shower yesterday --->
I went to baby's Betsy shower yesterday
SHIFTS
What kind of factors did we find ---> What kind of factors do we found... (past tense)
..in case she decides to hit it.. ---> ..in case she decide to hits it..(3rd pers. pl. morpheme)
BLENDS
Chomsky + Skinner = Chinner
emergency cardiac ---> emerdiac
few notable ---> fewtable
ADDITIONS
soap suds ---> soap studs (sound)
brain cell ---> brain stell (sound)
possible ---> impossible (morpheme)
DELETIONS
cucumber ---> coocumber (sound) [kyoo-kum-br --> koo-kum-br]
specific ---> pacific (sound) [spah-si-fik --> pah-si-fik
speech signal ---> peach signal (sound)
incapable ---> capable (morpheme)
SUBSTITUTION (word-level)
semantic errors: bring me a pen ---> bring me a pencil
it stays light out late here ---> it stays dark out late here
please set the table ---> please set the chair
phonological errors: condescension ---> condensation
Did you feed the bunny? ---> Did you feed the banana?
COMPREHENSION ERRORS
Hillary killed Foster ---> Hillary killed Hoffa
What's the square root of twelve? ---> What's the score of a squirrel?]
Just like Bogie and Bacall ---> Just like boogie in the car (a misheard song lyric)
I have to work tonight ---> I have some dynamite
eyes without a face ---> how's about a date (a misheard song lyric)
Examples of Affixes and Stress staying in position:
I went to Betsy's baby shower yesterday --->
I went to baby's Betsy shower yesterday
notice in that one how the possessive "s" morpheme doesn't get exchanged, i.e. you don't get "I went to baby Betsy's shower yesterday."
Are my keys in the door? ---> Are my doors in the key? (word)
notice in that last one how the plural"s" morpheme doesn't get exchanged, i.e. you don't get "Are my door in the key?""
leave no stone unturned ---> leave no stone unstoned
notice that the past tense morpheme "-ed" also stays in position, as well as the prefix "un".
Examples of Phonological Accomodation
an apple a day ---> a pear a day
boiled an egg ---> oiled a beg
In both of the examples above, substituting a consonant-initial word (pear, beg) for a vowel-initial word (apple, egg) causes the initially planned "an" to come out like "a".