A Brief Analysis on Slips of Tongue

孟庆瑜

【Abstract】The phenomenon of slips of tongue is very common in our daily life.And it is closely related to some psychological reasons.This paper aims to introduce the research about this phenomenon， to present the types of slips of tongue and some analysis on it.

【Key words】Slips of tongue； Types； Analysis；

A slip of tongue is a kind of error in speech communication.It is very common in our daily life.According to Boomer & Laver， slips of tongue are a deviation from what the speaker really wants to say.This paper will introduce the types of slips of tongue and some analysis about it.

1.Major Types of Slips of Tongue

According to Fromkin， He concluded seven types of lips of tongue.Based on his division， Carroll has proposed the eight major ones.

The first one is shift， which refers to that one speech segment disappears from its appropriate position and appears somewhere else.The second one is exchange， which refers to that the places of two linguistic units are exchanged.The third one is anticipation， which refers to that a later segment takes place of an earlier one.The fourth one is preservation， which refers to that an earlier speech segment takes place in the later ones position.The fifth one is addition， which refers to that some linguistic material is added.The sixth one is deletion， which refers to that some linguistic material is left out.The seventh one is substitution， which refers to that one speech segment is replaced.The last one is blend， which refers to that more than one word is fused into one item.

2.Reasons about Slips of Tongue

2.1 The Factors of Language Itself

The first one can be the similarities of language itself.It may lead to the misuse of language.The second one is the frequency of using a word.The third one is the complexity of the linguistic unit in use.If the linguistic unit is very complex， the possibility of slips of tongue would be high.

2.2 Psychological Factors of the Speaker

2.2.1 Slips of Tongue and subconsciousness

According to Florid， there exists more than one idea in the mind when the speaker is speaking.And one of them is in the dominant position， and may not be the one that the speaker is intended to say， but he may speak it out fluently.For example， “My grandfather lied.” According to Florid， this mistake may give out the speakers subconscious ideas.

2.2.2 Slips of tongue and Memory

Psycholinguist believed that the talk in our daily life involves a process of supervision.Psycholinguists are concerned about this process， and they do some experiments about it.And the results show that in memory， the representations of phrases that are semantically similar are closely related.In the process of making a choice among the phrases in the mind， memory plays an important role.

2.2.3 Slips of Tongue and Emotional State

When a speaker is in such emotion as sorrow， hurry， or under some pressure， slips of tongue may come out easily.For example， when a teacher explains “quick-witted”， but what he in reality speak out is “wick-quitted”.At that time， maybe because he speaks very fast and the mind do not get enough time to prepare for the right one.

2.3 Social and Cultural Factors

When talking about the topics that may easily make people feel anxious， the frequency of slips of tongue may be high.For example， when you talk about marriage with people who have just divorced you may have more slips of tongue.Situation is also a factor that affects slip of tongue.When people are in a very formal situation， they may have a lot of slips of tongue due to nervousness.In addition， the cultural factors that are hiding behind languages also contribute a lot to slips of tongue.So the people involved in a conversation should pay attention to each others cultural customs.

3.Conclusion

Phenomena of slips of tongue are very common in our daily life.This paper has briefly introduced the research tradition about slips of tongue.And the eight major types of slips of tongue.In addition， this paper also presents some factors which can lead to slips of tongue.When slips of tongue take place， we can use some strategies to handle it and we should try our best to avoid slips of tongue.

References：

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