Overt phonological errors during part-word repetitions: Some theoretical implications

This is a report of a single-subject study of a stutterer who produced systematic overt phonological errors only during part-word repetitions. The phonological errors involved substitution of initial voiceless cognates for the intended voiced stops during repetitions and final fluent productions of the target words. In contrast, the subject did not produce phonological errors during part-word repetitions of words beginning with the voiceless stops and when he produced words with initial voiced stops fluently. Acoustic measurements confirmed these auditory-perceptual judgments. The implications of these findings for the Covert Repair Hypothesis (CRH) (Postma and Kolk, 1993; Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 16, 472-487) will be discussed.