foreign accent syndrome

English

Noun

foreign accent syndrome (countable and uncountable, plural foreign accent syndromes)

1. (medicine, psychology, neurology) An extremely rare disorder, which may be temporary or permanent, in which a person who has suffered a stroke or other brain trauma recovers but subsequently speaks with a seemingly foreign accent.
   • 1991, Gerard L. Ervin, “MLJ News & Notes of the Profession”, in The Modern Language Journal, volume 75, number 2, page 225:

     A Baltimore man suddenly began speaking with a Scandinavian accent after suffering a stroke. . . . The man had "foreign accent syndrome," a rare condition in which a brain malfunction produces speech alterations that sound like a foreign accent.

Hypernyms

• speech impediment

Translations

rare disorder

• Finnish: vieraan murteen syndrooma
• French: syndrome de l’accent étranger (fr) m