Stilted speech

Common card · No. 209570

In psychiatry, stilted speech or pedantic speech is communication characterized by situationally inappropriate formality. This formality can be expressed both through abnormal prosody as well as speech content that is "inappropriately pompous, legalistic, philosophical, or quaint". Often, such speech can act as evidence for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or a thought disorder, a common symptom in schizophrenia or schizoid personality disorder. To diagnose stilted speech, researchers have previously looked for the following characteristics: Speech conveying more information than necessary Vocabulary and grammar expected from formal writing rather than conversational speech Unnecessary repetition or corrections While literal and long-winded word content is often the most identifiable feature of stilted speech, such speech often displays irregular prosody, especially in resonance. Often, the loudness, pitch, rate, and nasality of pedantic speech vary from normal speech, resulting in the...

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