Abstract

Attention in the language sciences has turned recently to fixed (unitary, prefabricated, or formulaic ) expressions in normal and disordered communication. Formulaic expressions include conversational phrases, idioms, expletives, and slang. These expressions may constitute up to 25% of speech production. In this talk I will examine these expressions from linguistic, psychological, social, and neurological perspectives. Two related proposals arise from this overview: (1) generation of novel sentences and management of formulaic expressions represent two legitimate and separable processes in language use, and (2) novel and formulaic speech are stored and processed differently in mental and neurological systems. Integrating and synchronizing these two disparate processes in language behavior characterizes normal communicative function and contributes to creativity in language. Better understanding of how various categories of formulaic speech are learned, stored, and used in normal language behavior will lead to more viable models of language processing.