Incorrect or distorted word usage is called which term?

• A. Paraphasia
• B. Aphasia
• C. Dysarthria
• D. Circumlocution

Answer: (A)

Paraphasia refers to errors in word production where the speaker uses an incorrect or distorted word or substitutes another word or sound. This phenomenon is often seen in aphasia and reflects disrupted language processing rather than a motor problem. Dysarthria, in contrast, is a motor speech disorder causing slurred or imprecise articulation, not incorrect word choice. Circumlocution is talking around a word by describing it rather than naming it, which is a communicative strategy rather than an error in word usage. Aphasia is the broader language impairment, of which paraphasia is a common symptom. So, the term for incorrect or distorted word usage is paraphasia.