Which term means difficulty speaking?

• A. Aphasia
• B. Dysphasia
• C. Dyslexia
• D. Aphonia

Answer: (B)

Difficulty speaking comes from a disruption in language abilities rather than just voice or reading. Dysphasia specifically denotes a language impairment that affects speech production and fluency, usually due to changes in the brain’s language centers after an event like a stroke. Aphasia is a broader language disorder that can involve speaking, understanding, reading, and writing, so it’s related but not as precise for “difficulty speaking” alone. Dyslexia is a reading difficulty, not a speech issue. Aphonia is the loss of voice, a vocal problem rather than a language impairment. So dysphasia directly captures the idea of trouble with spoken language.