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Less predictable words are more likely to be stuttered
What is it about?
This study tested whether stuttering is more likely on words that are harder for a listener to predict from the words that came before. We analyzed nearly 35,000 words from spontaneous interviews with 35 adults who stutter and used a large language model to estimate how predictable each word was. We found that less predictable words are more likely to be stuttered, even after accounting for other language-related factors. Standard measures of stuttering severity and overall impact did not predict who was more sensitive to these harder-to-predict words.
Why is it important?
Stuttering can vary from moment to moment, and that unpredictability is often one of the hardest parts of living with it. This study shows that words carrying more information are more likely to be stuttered. It also offers a new way to study stuttering with modern language tools and suggests that researchers and clinicians may need to look beyond severity scores alone, including the communicative pressure speakers feel when trying to express words that they deem carry value.