Towards a contemporary linguistic characterization of the aphasias proposed by Luria

Abstract

The linguistic typology of Jakobson (1971a) –– from the classification of Luria (1947) –– remains the most exhaustive analysis on the language alterations that appear in aphasia; however, we must to consider this characterization is limited to development of linguistic theory of its era, so references to pragmatics and discursive aspects are almost inexistent. For such reason, the aims of this paper are: (i) describe the neuropsychological theory of Luria, in particular concept of neuropsychological factor and dynamic organization of functions to point out the role they play within systemic alterations of language, and (ii) update Jakobson’s linguistic characterization about the six types of aphasia proposed by Luria, adding pragmatics and discursive elements. Finally, it is emphasized that a functional perspective in the study of language disorders allows us to distinguish between grammar-based pragmatic deficits and specifically pragmatic deficits in aphasias (Fernández-Urquiza et al., 2015).