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 Professional Writing in
Speech-Language Pathology
and Audiology
Third Edition
 Professional Writing in
Speech-Language Pathology
and Audiology
Third Edition

Robert Goldfarb, PhD

Yula C. Serpanos, PhD
5521 Ruffin Road
San Diego, CA 92123

email: information@pluralpublishing.com
website: http://www.pluralpublishing.com

Copyright © 2020 by Plural Publishing, Inc.

Typeset in 11/13 Garamond by Flanagan’s Publishing Services, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Goldfarb, Robert (Robert M.), author. | Serpanos, Yula Cherpelis,

author.
Title: Professional writing in speech-language pathology and audiology /
Robert Goldfarb, Yula C. Serpanos.
Description: Third edition. | San Diego, CA : Plural, [2020] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018028839| ISBN 9781635500134 (alk. paper) | ISBN
1635500133 (alk. paper)
Subjects: | MESH: Medical Writing | Speech-Language Pathology | Audiology
Classification: LCC RC423 | NLM WZ 345 | DDC 808/.066616--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018028839
 Contents

Introduction xi

1 Getting Started 1
Beginnings of Speech-Language Pathology 1
Beginnings of Audiology 2
About the Deaf Community and Hearing Impairment 3
Current Issues 3
English Mechanics 3
Parts of Speech 4
Grammatical Morphemes 7
Phrase Structure Rules 8
Exercises 14
References 32

2 Writing Rules 33
Errors in Form 33
Writing Form (punctuation, spelling, grammatical morphemes) 33
Punctuation 33
Spelling 35
Grammatical Morphemes and Common Confusions 36
Writing Content and Composition (Semantics, Sentence Structure) 53
Exercises 59
Final Note 108
References 108

3 Evidence-Based Writing 111

Writing a Professional Paper/Journal Article 111
A. Title 112
B. Abstract 112
C. Introduction 112
D. Methods 114
E. Results 115
F. Discussion and Conclusion 115
G. References 115
Exercises 116
References 137

v
vi   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology

4 Ethics of Professional Writing 139

The ASHA Code of Ethics 140
Principle of Ethics I 140
Principle of Ethics II 143
Principle of Ethics III 144
Principle of Ethics IV 146
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) 147
The Institutional Review Board 148
The Belmont Report 149
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Course 149
Conclusion 149
Exercises 150
References 159
Appendix 4–A. Sample Institutional Review Board Research Review Form 160

5 Referencing Resources 163

History of the Library 163
Collections 164
Books 164
Scholarly Journals 164
Audiovisual Materials 165
Microforms 165
Services 165
The Organization of Information: Catalogs and Databases 165
Conducting a Search 166
Interlibrary Loans/Reciprocal Library Privileges 168
Reference Services 168
Reserve Items 169
Course Packs 169
Copyright Material 169
Plagiarism 170
Citing References From Print Books and Journals 170
Writing References in APA Style: Review of Selected APA-Style (2010) 170
Reference List and In-Text Citation Formats
Exercises 175
References 199

6 Internet Resources 201

What is the Internet? 201
Syntax, Semantics, and Jargon 202
Internet Glossary: An Exercise in Futility 202
Uses and Abuses 204
Citing References from the Internet 205
Electronic Article 206
Electronic Article (where the format is modified from the print version) 207
Specific Internet Document 207
Article in an Internet-Only Journal 207
Evaluating Internet Sources for Professional Writing 207
 vii
Contents  

Peer-Reviewed Journals 208

Peer-Review Process 208
Which Internet Resources Should We Use (And Which Should We Avoid)? 209
Do Use 209
Don’t Use 210
Should We Use These Internet Resources? Why or Why Not? 210
Final Note 210
Exercises 211
References 217

7 Writing for Oral Presentation 219

Preparing the Oral Presentation 219
Developing the Speech 220
Outlining the Presentation 220
Delivering the Oral Presentation 221
Computer-Generated Presentations 221
Creating Computer-Generated Presentations 221
Factors in Effective Speech Delivery 222
Tips for Delivering the Speech 223
Sample Computer-Generated Presentation 224
Professional Presentations 226
I. The Poster Presentation 227
II. The Platform Presentation 228
III. The Short Course 228
Exercises 230
References 244

8 The Diagnostic Report 245

Diagnostic Labeling 245
Threats to Accurate Diagnosis 246
Rules for Diagnosis 246
Rule 1 246
Rule 2 248
Rule 3 249
Rule 4 250
Rule 5 250
Writing the Diagnostic Report 251
The Logic of Report Writing 251
The Diagnostic Report Format 252
Guidelines for Writing Diagnostic Reports in Speech-Language Pathology 252
and Audiology
Writing Aspects 252
Format 252
Sections of the Diagnostic Report 253
Report Drafts 253
Writing the History 254
Diagnostic Report Format — ​Speech and Language 254
Referral Information 254
viii   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology

Background Information 255

Assessment Information 255
Clinical Impressions 256
Recommendations 256
Diagnostic Protocol Worksheet — ​Speech and Language 257
Referral Information 257
Background Information 257
Assessment Information 257
Sample of Diagnostic Report Writing in Speech-Language Pathology 258
Speech-Language Evaluation Report — Original 258
Speech-Language Evaluation Report — Revised Version 260
Diagnostic Report Format — Audiology 262
History 262
Assessment Information 263
Clinical Impressions 265
Recommendations 265
Diagnostic Protocol Worksheet — Audiology 265
History 265
Assessment Information 266
Sample of Diagnostic Report Writing in Audiology 266
Audiologic Evaluation Report — Original 266
Audiology Evaluation Report — Edited 267
Exercises 268
References 293

9 Clinical Goals, Reports, and Referrals 295

Informed Consent and Permission 295
Justification 295
Informed Consent Form 296
Permission Form 296
Writing Clinical Observations 297
Writing Goals for Therapy 298
Types of Professional Reports 300
I. Treatment (Therapy Session) Format Plan in Speech-Language Pathology 300
II. Progress Report 302
Guidelines for Writing Progress Reports in Speech-Language Pathology 302
Progress Report: Writing Style Worksheet 303
Edited Progress Report in Speech-Language Pathology 304
III. Audiogram Form Report 305
IV. Medical Chart Logs/Reports 305
Professional Correspondence 308
Professional Referrals/Sending Reports 308
Sample Authorization of Release of Information Form 309
Correspondence Via Electronic Media 309
Letters to Professionals 310
Cover Letters for Professional Reports 310
Letters as Reports 311
Exercises 313
References 359
 ix
Contents  

10 Writing for Professional Advancement 361

Writing for Professional Advancement 361
I. Resumes 361
Do’s 362
Don’ts 363
Letterhead 363
Education 363
Certifications/Licenses 363
Professional Experience 363
Awards/Honors 363
Publications 363
Professional Presentations 363
Research 364
Professional Affiliations/Activities 364
Skills 364
References 364
Sample Student Resume Format 364
II. Cover Letters for Resumes 364
Resume Cover Letter Format 367
Sample Resume Cover Letter 367
III. Portfolios 368
Sample Portfolio Checklist of Clinical Work in Audiology 368
Sample Portfolio Checklist of Clinical Work in Speech-Language Pathology (Adelphi
University Codes) 369
IV. Professional Correspondence Via Electronic Media 378
Sections of Formal Correspondence 378
Sample E-Mail Correspondence 378
Multiple-Choice Tests 378
The Stem 378
The Options 379
Graduate Record Examination (GRE®) 379
Praxis® Examinations in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology 379
Exercises 382
References 390

Index 391
 Introduction
“If you didn’t document it, you didn’t do it.” Com-
petent professional writing is a necessity, not a
luxury. Third-party payers, such as insurance com-
panies, may deny payment if the documentation
for professional services is incorrect or incom-
plete. Medical chart notes, diagnostic evaluations,
progress reports, and discharge summaries are all
legal documents that may be used in court. The
Code of Ethics of the American Speech-Language-
Hearing Association (ASHA, 2016) states that indi-
viduals shall provide all services competently, and
that includes documentation of services rendered.
The authors were motivated to write the
present book to address writing problems exhib-
ited by undergraduate and graduate students in
communication sciences and disorders (CSD), lax
documentation by clinicians, and general sloven-
liness in professional discourse. Since the second
edition was published in 2014, we have figura-
tively blown our tops at students’ overuse of liter-
ally in conversation, although this trend has not
(yet) infected their professional writing. We con-
tinue to remind students that they are off base if
they write based off of instead of based on. Lastly,
we understand the reasons for accepting a singu-
lar form of they in spoken discourse, but reject
its use in professional writing. The Third Edition
includes expanded exercises in all sections, in
response to reviewers who used the second edi-
tion and requested more practice opportunities.
We include a more accessible website instead
of a bundled CD for additional materials. We
also responded to feedback from students who
enrolled in a Professional Writing Boot Camp at
Adelphi University that led to some changes and
adjustments in the present volume. Guidelines for
instituting writing boot camps at other colleges
and universities appear in the website. In addi-
tion, RG field-tested portions of the second edi-
xi
tion as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Linguistics
in Bogota, Colombia. The graduate TEFL students
attended research methods and academic writing
lectures in English, and provided valuable feed-
back regarding both English and Spanish materi-
als provided in the courses.
In the past few years, we have had our con-
cerns about professional writing shared by site
visitors from the National Council for Accreditation
of Teacher Education programs (NCATE). Within
our own disciplines, the Council of Academic
Accreditation (CAA) evaluators of our graduate
program in speech-language pathology, the CAA
site visitors of our consortial doctor of audiology
program, and the CAA teams that joined RG on
site visits to other colleges and universities echoed
the need for improvement in professional writing.
In all cases, we were assured that the decline in
professional writing was a national concern.
At a recent meeting of the Council of Aca-
demic Programs in Communication Sciences and
Disorders, we were eager to learn how other
CSD programs assessed professional writing. We
learned that while some programs denied admis-
sion to students applying for matriculation in grad-
uate degree programs based on poor professional
writing, other programs ignored professional writ-
ing, and one program director was honest enough
to admit, unofficially, that writing requirements
were “dumbed down” to give the program a per-
ceived competitive advantage in recruitment. All
programs welcomed a resource for professional
writing that was comprehensive and scholarly.
In our research for the present book, we have
discovered some fine style manuals for research
reports and professional writing, as well as work-
books focusing on drill work. In this volume, we
hope to provide reasons and explanations for the
suggestions we make, and to support our claims
xii   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
with relevant professional citations. We do not think
our students need to attend “remedial graduate
school,” nor do we doubt that every CSD student
and professional practitioner can learn to write
competently. We also think that learning to be
a better professional writer does not have to
be drudgery and have attempted to leaven our
instruction with humor and stories.
Chapter 1 has some material that is new to
the third edition, and includes an overview of Eng-
lish mechanics underlying syntax. In addition to
a review of parts of speech, the chapter includes
information about sentence structure, syntactic
development, and disorders of syntax.
In Chapter 2, we describe language as our
favorite toy, where even punctuation can be funny.
Other topics include the alphabet soup of abbre-
viations that we use professionally; the mutability
of language, especially among young adult users;
and such thorny issues as gender neutrality and
cultural differences. There are examples of cor-
rect and incorrect forms of usage throughout the
chapter, as well as exercises at the end that review
some of the themes. We have included many exer-
cises and worksheets to address common errors
in written expression; a list of common abbrevia-
tions that we use in professional writing; and have
added to the website sections on strong language,
“Mondegreens,” and a game to use Shakespeare’s
insults to improve vocabulary. When students ask
why there is so much professional jargon in our
disciplines, we sometimes give the flip answer,
“So you can charge more.” The reality is that every
trade and professional group uses jargon, whether
it’s “Adam and Eve on a raft” (two sunny-side up
eggs on toast) in a local diner, or the contents of
a legal document.
The focus of Chapter 3, evidence-based writ-
ing, is to provide the reader with strategies to
answer the “why” questions about professional
writing. We include annotated samples of students’
evidence-based writing. We take you through the
stages of writing a journal article. Our goal for
most readers is to help them become educated
consumers of research, not necessarily producers
of research. We would also like to foster a cog-
nitive shift away from the educational model in
preparing therapy plans and reporting treatment
to one where the clinician is testing hypotheses.
After all, if you are following a curriculum, you
may continue with it even if it doesn’t seem to be
working, whereas, if your hypothesis is falsified,
you can begin testing another one.
As noted above, the ASHA Code of Ethics
(revised in 2016) requires that we discharge our
duties honorably and document our services
appropriately. In Chapter 4, we review the Prin-
ciples of Ethics that relate to professional writing,
the constraints imposed by the Health Insur-
ance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
(HIPAA), and the guidelines for writing a success-
ful research proposal to an Institutional Review
Board. Since 2000, anyone seeking federal grant
support is required to have a current certificate
indicating a passing grade (currently 80%) on
the web-based training program on the protec-
tion of human research participants administered
through the National Institutes of Health. Students
and professionals in communication sciences and
disorders (CSD) are obliged to learn ASHA’s code
of ethics. There are many other websites related
to ethics, and we provide the links for instruction
about ethics in areas related to CSD.
Using library resources, discussed in Chap-
ter 5, begins with a history of the library, followed
by a discussion of collections and services. Those
of us who enjoy the musty smell of the stacks
can still indulge in this activity, but we also need
to know how to conduct electronic searches. As
instructors often use a course pack to supplement
or substitute for a traditional textbook, we consid-
ered it worth noting. We also include sections on
copyright and plagiarism. We would like a field
trip to a college or university library to be part
of the requirements for Chapter 5. Although we
can access most of what the library has to offer
through a desktop computer at home, we find the
“bricks-and-mortar” experience of being in the
building to be stimulating and informative. There
is an extended set of exercises in correct use of
APA 2010 style for referencing.
As we say in Chapter 6, on using Internet
resources, welcome to the new way of doing busi-
ness, meeting your life partner, succeeding in aca-
demia, and conducting your clinical practice. The
syntax, semantics, and jargon associated with the

Internet today may appear out of date and even
quaint by the time this chapter gets to the reader,
but the section on uses and abuses of the Internet
should remain relevant. We continue the discus-
sion about research-based writing in this chapter.
We recommend Internet resources to use, as well
as those to avoid; explain the peer-review process
for both print and electronic media; and recom-
mend sites and strategies for database searches.
We have not seen a section on writing for oral
presentation, which is covered in Chapter 7 in
the current volume, in other professional writing
books. Preparing an oral presentation is a topic of
importance in basic books on rhetoric and public
address, but we include it here to show how to
develop a speech and to outline the presentation.
In delivering the oral presentation, particularly
one that includes computer-generated visual aids,
we differentiate what should appear on the slides
compared to what should be included in effective
speech delivery. An oral report in class, a dem-
onstration of a diagnostic test in clinical practi-
cum, and a short course at ASHA are all based on
written preparation. As the poster presentation
is popular as an assignment for demonstrating
evidenced-based practice in university clinics,
as well as for disseminating research findings at
professional conventions, we devote consider-
able attention to preparing a poster, and include
examples on the accompanying website.
The diagnostic report, Chapter 8, is one of the
lengthier sections of the book, divided into two
parts. The first part specifies and describes five
rules for diagnosis. For example, we address the
second rule, Be an Educated Consumer of Tests and
Measures, to all audiologists and speech-language
pathologists who must understand research meth-
odology even if they do not actively produce
research. The guidelines for writing diagnostic
reports in speech-language pathology and audi-
ology, in the second part of the chapter, include
specific instructions and examples for diagnostic
protocols and report formats. Exercises start with
the building block of phonetic transcription, which
includes solving and writing a crossword puzzle in
phonetics. Following that are original and edited
diagnostic reports in speech-language pathology
and audiology, and exercises for editing reports.
xiii
Introduction  
Chapter 9, clinical goals, reports and refer-
rals, includes templates and samples of a treat-
ment plan, progress report, and chart note, as
well as forms of professional correspondence. We
review issues in clinical writing related to ter-
minology, ethics, and software. Exercises include
writing cover letters for professional reports, writ-
ing letters as reports, completing an audiometric
profile, and entering log notes in medical charts.
We take you through the step-by-step process of
evaluating background information, including
test results, and making recommendations.
We end the book with an updated Chap-
ter 10 on writing for professional advancement,
because the format and number of questions
have changed on our national examinations. The
graduating student seeking a clinical fellowship,
and the seasoned professional moving forward
in a rewarding career, need strategies for devel-
oping professional documents. The chapter con-
cludes with an analysis of multiple-choice tests,
those used in the Praxis II exam as well as those
prepared by course instructors. Exercises include
developing a personal resume, preparing a pro-
fessional cover letter, and developing a profes-
sional portfolio.
In recognizing the many people who helped
us with this project, we want to pay a special trib-
ute to the late Dr. Sadanand Singh, the founder
of Plural Publishing, Inc. Singh (there is no disre-
spect intended; that is how he asked many of us
to address him) also indicated that, although he
could not read all manuscripts submitted or pub-
lished, he did read our earlier one and enjoyed
it very much. Angie Singh currently carries the
torch at Plural, and she has been a wonderful
source of support for us.
We are grateful for the assistance of Profes-
sor Suzy Lederer and Ms. Dawn Cotter-Jenkins at
Adelphi University in providing some of the clinic
forms used in this book. Professor Susan Beh-
rens, a linguistics professor in the CSD Depart-
ment at Marymount Manhattan College, spent a
great deal of time with us to make sure that all
appropriate grammatical rules were included in
the third edition, and that our examples in the
exercises were clear and appropriate. Our editors
at Plural Publishing, Inc. — Kalie Koscielak and
xiv   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Valerie Johns — have provided encouragement,
cheerleading, and welcome deadlines through-
out the writing project. Terry Gozdziewski field-
tested the earlier editions in her writing classes
and offered valuable suggestions. Our graduate
research assistant, Yulia Kovalenko, painstak-
ingly checked all chapters for clarity, ease of flow,
and accuracy. Another graduate student, Monica
Fernandes, corrected the Spanish version of the
book that Google Translate yielded to produce a
coherent Spanish version of the chapters used in
Bogota. Our students’ excellent work has inspired
us, and their not-quite-so-excellent writing has
motivated us, in preparing composite examples
of diagnostic and treatment reports.
To Shelley and Elizabeth Goldfarb, Matt
Simon and Tessera Rose; and to Andreas, Marie,
and Ariana Serpanos, Luke Hardcastle, and Mark
McClean — we love you madly. To Shelley and to
Elizabeth V. Goldfarb, Matthew D. Simon, and to
. . . (as written).
We invite readers to send comments and sug-
gestions to us by email at:
Goldfarb2@adelphi.edu
Serpanos@adelphi.edu
To our daughters and their husbands.
 1
Getting Started
Language is our favorite toy. We encourage you to
play with it, develop your own skill set, and have
fun inventing and reinventing your unique use
of it. At the same time, we want you to develop
a consistently excellent professional writing (and
speaking) style, using conventions universally
understood by speech-language pathologists and
audiologists. The professional and personal lan-
guage you use will be quite different from what
we wrote and said as undergraduate and gradu-
ate students. Emerging technology, especially in
audiology, but also in areas of speech-language
pathology such as alternative and augmentative
communication, has resulted in a new and richer
vocabulary, with terms borrowed from computer
science, engineering, and medicine.
Nowhere is the flux of language more evi-
dent than in the words used by young adults to
represent something or someone in exceedingly
positive terms. These have evolved from “the cat’s
pajamas” to “groovy,” “far out,” and “def.” The last
term gives us an opportunity to examine what is
claimed here to be a misunderstanding based on
vernacular English. The term def does not refer
to hearing loss; rather, as it originated in inner
cities, it refers to death in an ironic way. There
is a phonological rule in African American Ver-
nacular English (AAVE) where the sound made
by the voiceless th (theta), when appearing after
a vowel, is pronounced as the sound made by the
letter f. We write the rule as follows: postvocalic
/θ/→/f/. This rule, as legitimate as any other in
phonology, represents the accepted practice of
a large linguistic community. It is important to
note the difference between vernacular English
and language disorder, as Jones, Obler, Gitter-
1
man, and Goldfarb (2002) indicate in a compari-
son of AAVE to agrammatism in aphasia. We can
see now that the use of def actually corresponds
to a phrase — the livin’ end — used as a superlative
several generations ago, for what is the end of life
(the livin’ end), but def?
Finally, as you play with your new language
toy, resist the urge to turn nouns into verbs or
verbs into nouns. Former President George W.
Bush caused himself political harm by creating
a noun from the verb to decide. Calling himself
“the decider” resulted in a cascade of political
cartoons, usually with a superhero in cape and
tights (and the President’s face) and a capital D
emblazoned on his chest. The President would
have been much better served by using the term
commander-in-chief or even the boss. Similarly,
creating a verb form of clinician is not the most
apt way of expressing the notion that a speech-
language pathologist or audiologist should be
well rounded, as in, “To be a good clinician, you
should cliniche with all types of cases.”
Beginnings of
Speech-Language Pathology
This section is devoted to the beginnings of the
field of speech-language pathology as well as
the professional titles we use when referring
to our colleagues and ourselves. The origins of
speech-language pathology are usually traced
to physicians in German-speaking countries in
Europe during the early 1900s and shortly there-
after to the University of Iowa in the United States
2   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
(Goldfarb, 1985). In 1918 the University of Vienna
appointed Emil Froeschels to serve as chief phy-
sician and speech pathologist (emphasis added)
in the department of speech and voice disorders
at the Central Hospital in Vienna. Together with
Hugo Stern, his counterpart in the phoniatrics
department, Froeschels convoked a meeting of
what he dubbed the First International Congress
of Logopedics and Phoniatrics. That meeting, held
on July 3 to 5, 1924, at the Vienna Institute of
Physiology, attracted some 65 specialists from the
fields of laryngology, psychology, and pedagogi-
cal subjects. All but two of the participants were
German-speaking Central Europeans.
At roughly the same time, across the seas in
the United States, efforts were begun to develop
the study and treatment of speech and hearing
problems as a nonmedical field of professional
specialization. Carl Emil Seashore, a psychologist
and Dean of the Graduate College at the Univer-
sity of Iowa, selected a promising graduate stu-
dent to develop a new program. This student, Lee
Edward Travis, was probably the first individual
in the world to be trained at the PhD level to
work experimentally and clinically with speech
and hearing disorders. His preparation involved
study in the departments of psychology, speech,
physics, psychiatry, neurology, and otolaryngol-
ogy. In 1927, Travis became the first director of
the University of Iowa Speech Clinic.
At the present time the International Associa-
tion of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) con-
venes a congress every three years. The American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
which is affiliated with IALP, presently lists more
than 190,000 members (ASHA, 2018a). The pro-
fessional titles of logopedist and phoniatrist have
not been adopted in the United States. These
titles and others are used primarily in Europe. For
instance, the professional title of orthophoniste is
used in France, as noted in Jean-Dominique Bau-
by’s 1997 account of his brainstem stroke, The Div-
ing Bell and the Butterfly. If they were used in the
United States, the first author of this book would
have to be called a logogerist, because he works
with the elderly. Instead, in the United States,
there has been a shift from identifying our prac-
tice as speech correctionists to speech-language
pathologists, a shift that is traceable to the end of
World War II. When injured soldiers, sailors, and
marines returned to Veterans Administration Hos-
pitals (now VA Medical Centers) with speech and
language disorders secondary to head trauma, the
attending psychiatrists and psychologists found
they were not equipped to deal with these com-
munication impairments. Some psychologists,
notably Jon Eisenson, acquired expertise in both
psychology and speech-language pathology, but
the American Speech and Hearing Association (as
it was called then) began emphasizing language
in the scope of practice of its members. The addi-
tion of Language to the title came in the 1970s,
when Norma Rees was president of ASHA (which
preferred to keep its acronym rather than chang-
ing it to the unwieldy ASLHA).
Beginnings of Audiology
Audiology emerged as a distinct profession in the
United States during World War II, where noise
exposure to the modern weapons of the times
created the necessity of diagnostic and rehabili-
tative services for many returning military per-
sonnel. At the time, audiologic services were
administered by professionals in related areas,
mostly otologists and speech-language patholo-
gists, and included psychologists and teachers of
the deaf, who ultimately became the first audiolo-
gists. The term audiology given to the new profes-
sion meaning “the study of (logos: Gr.; audire: L.)
hearing” (Martin & Clark, 2012, p. 4) is attributed
to otolaryngologist Norton Canfield and speech-
language pathologist Raymond Carhart.
Robert West, a speech-language pathologist,
is credited with expanding the discipline of
speech correction to include hearing services
(Bess & Humes, 2003). Audiologic services were
officially recognized within the profession’s pur-
view by ASHA (then known as the American
Academy of Speech Correction) in 1947, where
the organization voted to include the term hear-
ing in the association’s title (Paden, 1975). At
present, ASHA is the largest organization repre-
senting audiologists, with over 12,000 certified

members, a number that is substantially lower
than the membership of over 165,000 certified
speech-language pathologists also represented by
ASHA (ASHA, 2018b).
A movement to create an independent orga-
nization for audiologists resulted in the formation
of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) in
1988 with a mission to “promote quality hearing
and balance care by advancing the profession of
audiology through leadership, advocacy, educa-
tion, public awareness and support of research”
(AAA, 2018). With over 12,000 members, the
AAA is currently the largest independent profes-
sional organization operated specifically by and
for audiologists. Like ASHA, the AAA offers clini-
cal certification to its qualified members, pub-
lishes a scientific journal, professional position
statements, and practice guidelines in addition to
consumer information, and conducts an annual
national conference. There are numerous other
organizations for the varying areas of audiology
specializations, including hearing aid dispensing
and pediatric and rehabilitative audiology.
About the Deaf Community
and Hearing Impairment
There are many terms used to describe individu-
als with hearing loss, including hard of hearing
or hearing impaired. The use of such terms may
vary depending on the severity of the loss or the
communicative method used by the individual,
such as manual, spoken, written forms, or their
combinations. The term deaf is specifically used
to describe an individual with a severe to pro-
found degree of hearing loss, such that hearing
cannot be used as a principal means of receiv-
ing communication. Individuals who are deaf and
communicate primarily using manual language
(e.g., American Sign Language, or ASL), sharing a
culture of similar traditions and values, are part
of what is referred to as the Deaf community
(differentiated by the term deaf with a capital D).
At issue with its members is the connotation of
disability or handicap often associated with terms
relating to hearing loss. The Deaf community does
not consider deafness a deficit but rather a char-
1. Getting Started   3
acteristic of an individual’s hearing acuity (Debo-
nis & Donohue, 2008; Martin & Clark, 2012).
Current Issues
There are physical, occupational, and respira-
tory therapists; why are we not speech or hear-
ing therapists? Currently, the master’s degree is
the minimum level of education for best practice
in speech-language pathology, whereas the doc-
toral degree is required for practice in audiology.
Accordingly, speech-language pathologists and
audiologists do their own diagnosis, treatment,
and discharge planning. There is no medical spe-
cialty with greater expertise in communication
sciences and disorders than that of ASHA-certified
practitioners. Although we may provide speech,
language, and aural rehabilitation, we are not
therapists. A therapist’s professional duties are
prescribed by a physician; take, for example, the
activities of daily living skills for the occupational
therapist (OT) and range-of-motion exercises for
the physical therapist (PT). Referral from a physi-
cian to a speech-language pathologist, required
for some insurance reimbursement, should prop-
erly indicate no more than “evaluate and treat.”
The confusion continues when we try to
describe the people we treat. Those of us who
work in hospitals and medical centers may refer
to our patients. In university speech and hearing
centers, our graduate students tend to see cli-
ents. When they go off on externships in schools,
they may work with students. If the placement
is in a day treatment center for individuals with
developmental disabilities (formerly referred to as
mentally retarded), they become providers work-
ing with consumers.
English Mechanics
One interpretation of the title of the present sec-
tion is that it will deal with chaps who work
under the bonnets of lorries. Lexical ambiguity is
the basis of much of what we think of as jokes.
4   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
However, the purpose of this chapter is to define,
describe, and help in the practice of some basic
concepts of English mechanics as they apply to
professional writing in speech-language pathol-
ogy and audiology.
The section includes information and prac-
tice on grammatical classes (parts of speech) and
structure rules (syntax). We have devoted consid-
erable attention to most parts of speech, but have
given others a cursory review. Most writers have
no difficulty using conjunctions (and, but, yet) to
join two simple sentences to form a compound
sentence, or to use them to join words, phrases,
and clauses. Similarly, we don’t need to teach you
that articles (a, an, the) identify and specify nouns.
Finally, interjections (ouch, ah, whoops) express
emotion, and do not belong in professional writ-
ing. We have chosen to describe particles briefly,
because the prepositional and adverbial forms
they take may be somewhat confusing. Finally, we
relate concepts of English mechanics to theories
of language development and language disorders,
and demonstrate how knowledge of syntax can
apply to clinical intervention.
We have tried to answer the following ques-
tions: What are characteristics of nouns and verbs?
How do we use pronouns? How do adjectives/
attributes develop in typical children? What are
the differences between adjectives and adverbs?
What are content (lexical) and function (functor
or helping) words? What is a noun phrase? What
is a verb phrase? How do we put them together
to form sentences? What kinds of sentences can
we create?
Parts of Speech
(See Goldberg & Goldfarb, 2005)
Nouns
Acquired earlier than verbs
Processed more quickly
Have an identity independent of verbs
More typical stress patterns in English
More syllables and longer durations
Conceptually, mapped as things
Verbs
Verb relations often include nouns
More complex syntactically and
morphologically
Greater range of meaning than nouns
Less typical stress patterns
Fewer syllables and shorter durations
Conceptually, mapped as relations
Limited number of verb forms convey a
wide variety of meanings
Pronouns
There are nine types of pronouns, and some of
them give professional writers considerable trou-
ble. Let’s look at the easier ones first.
1. An indefinite pronoun refers, in general
terms, to a person or thing. Indefinite
pronouns include all, any, both, each,
everyone, few, many, neither, none,
nothing, several, some, and somebody.
Some examples of indefinite pronouns in
sentences are:
Several answers come to mind.
Any exercise is usually better than
none.
Nothing good will come of this.
2. A reflexive pronoun refers back to the
subject of a sentence. The reflexive
pronouns are herself, himself, itself, myself,
ourselves, themselves, and yourselves.
These same words can also act as intensive
pronouns (see C, below). Some examples of
reflexive pronouns in sentences are:
They should take better care of
themselves.

You should make yourself scarce.
I learned much about myself in clinical
practicum. (Note that much is prefer-
able to a lot. In professional writing, try
to avoid colloquial usage.)
3. An intensive pronoun strengthens or
emphasizes the noun or pronoun that
comes before it. Some examples of intensive
pronouns in sentences are:
Professor Serpanos herself told me to
take this course.
I myself would not have chosen to go.
4. A demonstrative pronoun points out a
noun. The demonstrative pronouns are that,
these, this, and those. Even though these
pronouns may look like demonstrative
adjectives, they are taking the place of a
noun, as pronouns do. When that, these,
this, and those are followed by nouns, they
function as adjectives. If we say, “Take these
before bedtime,” then these functions as a
demonstrative pronoun. However, if we say,
“Take these pills before bedtime,” then these
functions as an adjective. Some examples of
demonstrative pronouns in sentences are:
That is what we should use.
How can you handle all those?
5. An interrogative pronoun is used, as the
reader has probably already guessed, when
asking a question. Interrogative pronouns
include what, which, who, and whom. They
also attach to ever, as in the compound
words whatever, whichever, whoever, and
whomever. As with demonstrative pronouns,
interrogative pronouns may look like inter-
rogative adjectives, but these pronouns
take the place of nouns. Note that which,
who, whose, and whom may also be used
as relative pronouns (see 6, below). Some
examples of interrogative pronouns in
sentences are:
Which hat goes with this dress?
What is the meaning of this?
1. Getting Started   5
Whatever does Lola want? Note that
in the song from the musical Damn
Yankees, “Whatever Lola Wants (Lola
Gets),” the word whatever is used as
the object of a verb in a dependent
clause.
6. A relative pronoun introduces a clause, or
part of a sentence, that describes a noun.
The relative pronouns are that, which,
who, whose, and whom. Some examples of
relative pronouns in sentences are:
Use the test that you find most appro-
priate. That introduces “appropriate,”
which describes the test.
Larry is a scientist who is familiar with
the CSL. Who introduces “familiar with
the CSL,” which describes Larry.
7. A subjective pronoun acts as the subject of
a sentence; a person or thing that performs
the action of the verb. The subjective
pronouns are he, I, it, she, they, we, and you.
Some examples of two subjective pronouns
in sentences are:
She and I are assigned to the same
client.
We are never late, but they always are.
It seems as if we’ll never finish our 400
hours of practicum.
8. An objective pronoun acts as the object of
a sentence; a person or thing receives the
action of the verb. The objective pronouns
are her, him, it, me, them, us, and you.
Some examples of two objective pronouns
in sentences are:
Blame him for the mess, not us.
Take her along with them.
9. A possessive pronoun indicates who owns
something. The possessive pronouns
are hers, his, its, mine, ours, theirs, and
yours. As we note elsewhere, punctuation
errors are the bane of professional writers
who make errors when using possessive
pronouns. We also note regional dialectal
6   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
variations for some possessive pronouns,
especially mines. Some examples of posses-
sive pronouns in sentences are:
The responsibility is mine, not hers.
When we get married, what was yours
becomes ours.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns. It makes
no difference if the description comes before
(What a cute baby) or after the noun (That baby
is so cute). Adverbs modify adjectives, verbs, and
other adverbs, but not nouns or pronouns. Adverbs
answer questions of how (where the adverb usu-
ally has the -ly ending), as well as when and
where. The non-ly adverbs are called flat adverbs.
If you are describing a careful worker, then you
are using an adjective (to modify the noun,
worker); but if you write about someone who
works carefully, then you have used an adverb (to
modify the verb, works).
Of course, as we are discussing English
grammar, there are special rules regarding the -ly
ending, which is not used when describing sense
experiences of taste, smell, look, and feel. Then
we drop the ending when using adverbs. Accord-
ingly, a baby’s head smells sweet, not sweetly; you
look happy, not happily; a poor grade on an exam
makes you feel bad, not badly; and chocolate
tastes delicious, not deliciously. Another special
rule applies to good and well. In general, good
is an adjective (You did good work), and well is
an adverb (You worked well). However, use well,
and not good, when describing health. You may
look good in your new clothes, but you will look
well once you get over the flu. Elsewhere in this
book we refer to comparatives (usually taking the
ending -er) and superlatives (-est) in reference to
adjectives and adverbs. However, we do not drop
the -ly from an adverb when using the compara-
tive form. That is, we do not speak quieter, but
quietly in the audiology booth.
The use of certain classes of adjectives
changes as children get older. Cognitive discrimi-
nation relates to stages of development in children,
and reflects impairment related to brain damage
in adults. According to Piaget’s decentration theory
(2001), the child develops the ability to move away
from one system of classification to another. For
some children, the ability to decenter from color to
various aspects of form (that is, initially describing
an object as blue, but then changing the descrip-
tion to big, round, and soft) begins in the preoper-
ational period, between 2 to 7 years, and is usually
completed during the concrete operational period
of 7 to 11 years. Choosing color or form as the
primary attribute in a controlled experiment has
been shown (Goldfarb & Balant-Campbell, 1984)
to differentiate neurotypical adults from those with
left- and right-brain damage.
Prepositional Phrases
Most of us have heard (or even said), “Between you
and I . . . ” This prepositional phrase represents
correct usage of between, because two elements
are involved, but it is incorrect usage of the object
of the preposition. That is, the sentence should
start as, “Between you and me,” because between
is a preposition and me is the objective pronoun.
While (or, perhaps, whilst) it is appropriate to
use the term amongst in British writing, the term
among is preferred in American English usage.
The same sentence that has the word between
might also have the indefinite pronoun both; a
sentence with among might also have the indefi-
nite pronoun all.
Prepositions often refer to the position of
one object in relation to another. One common
clinical assignment for new SLP student clinicians
is to work on basic spatial relations with young
children who have a language delay. Therapy
often begins with in, on, and under, which are
used in grammar as prepositions. We remember
taking an old shoebox, and cutting out a square in
the lid to make a “preposition box.” The clinician
could put a toy “in” the box through the cutout;
“on” the box, somewhere else on the lid; and, by
lifting the shoebox, “under” the box.
Particles
Have you noticed that you can drink up and drink
down, but you eat in only one direction (up,

although you can chow down)? When a word that
is usually a preposition or an adverb in another
context joins with a verb to form a multi-word
verb, that word is called a particle. An alphabeti-
cal list of the most commonly used particles are
along, away, back, by, down, forward, in, off, on,
out, over, round, under, up. The word out forms a
phrasal verb in “look out,” and the word for forms
a prepositional verb in “care for.”
Grammatical Morphemes
A morpheme is a minimal grammatical unit of
a language that cannot be divided into smaller
grammatical parts. The morpheme may be a
word or a meaningful part of a word. How many
morphemes are in the word “unconstitutional”?
Your first job is to locate the free morpheme
(also called a bound root) and then see which
bound morphemes attach to it. If you said that
the free morpheme was “constitution,” nice try.
Actually, “constitution” is a combination of the
free morpheme “constitute,” with the -tion ending
needed to change a verb to a noun. The -al end-
ing changes the word from a noun to an adjective,
and the un- changes the word from affirmative to
negative. So the correct answer is that there are
four morphemes, one free and three bound.
In the Frank Loesser musical, Guys and Dolls
(based on a story by Damon Runyon), the curtain
rises to reveal a trio of men, one called Nicely-
Nicely Johnson, singing, “Fugue for Tinhorns.”
Runyon and Loesser knew that an inappropriate
adverbial form was required for the character’s
nickname. When asked how he was feeling, John-
son always replied, “Nicely-Nicely.” Remember
that we do not use the -ly ending for adverbs
describing sense experience. Even though he
was a morally sketchy character, Johnson’s failed
attempt at good grammar showed, paradoxically,
that he was an upwardly mobile striver.
It is sometimes useful to have an operational
definition of an utterance, especially when col-
lecting pre-treatment data that will be compared
to results of therapy. Our operational definition
of an utterance is that it consists of two or more
1. Getting Started   7
meaningfully related morphemes. Consider the
following clinician–child interaction:
Clinician: Where do you live?
Child: New York
Clinician: What do you have?
Child: Toys
Even though “New York” has two words, it does
not qualify as an utterance, because there is only
one unit of meaning, or one morpheme. However,
“Toys” does qualify as an utterance, because there
is a free morpheme (toy) and a bound regular
plural morpheme.
There are usually more morphemes than
words in a series of utterances, but an individ-
ual utterance may have more words than mor-
phemes. For example, consider the sentence, “Is
the Empire State Building in New York City?”
There are nine words, but only five morphemes,
because “Empire State Building” and “New York
City” have only one unit of meaning, even though
there are three words. Much more frequently,
bound morphemes tilt the imbalance in the other
direction. For example, the sentence, “Nine min-
ers were trapped irretrievably” has five words but
13 morphemes, as follows:
1. Nine: one word, one morpheme
2. Miners: one word, three morphemes
(free morpheme “mine” and two bound
morphemes of [er] for “one who” works
in a mine, and the bound regular plural
morpheme [s]).
3. Were: one word, three morphemes (present
singular form of auxiliary verb “to be,”
plural form [is → are], and irregular past
tense morpheme [are → were])
4. Trapped: one word, two morphemes (free
morpheme “trap” and bound regular past
tense morpheme)
5. Irretrievably: one word, four morphemes
(free morpheme “retrieve” with negative
morpheme [ir-], adjectival form [-able] and
adverbial form [-ly]). It can even be argued
that “retrieve” is composed of a prefix (re)
and a bound root (trieve).
8   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
There are different ways to calculate mean
length of utterance (mlu), which we hasten to
add is a useful measure for baseline and base-
line recovery, but much less useful as a therapy
goal. Recursion rules, as noted below, can arti-
ficially inflate mlu without adding to syntactic
complexity. Calculating mlu as number of words
per utterance will usually yield a lower score than
calculating by number of morphemes per utter-
ance. We prefer to base mlu on a word-morpheme
index. For example, if the average number of
words in 100 consecutive utterances is 3.0 and
the average number of morphemes in the same
100 utterances is 3.4, then the word–morpheme
index will be 3.2.
Phrase Structure Rules
We don’t read word by word, and we shouldn’t
think of writing in that way, either. If we consider
the phrase to be the minimal unit for both read-
ing and writing, then we need to learn some rules
about phrases. Phrases are structured by constitu-
ents; that is, the word or group of words that func-
tion as a unit or can make up larger grammatical
units. The property of language called recursion
allows categories to be embedded (left-branching,
right-branching, or center embedded). Recursion
can theoretically produce infinitely long phrases.
Some examples of recursion are in the increas-
ingly longer, “This is the house that Jack built”
and the Passover tale, “An only kid.” In both cases,
progressively longer sentences are constructed
by appending right-branching dependent clauses
beginning with the demonstrative pronoun that.
Here is an example of a simple sentence, fol-
lowed by three dependent clauses. It comes from
a song Sylvia Fine wrote for her husband, Danny
Kaye to perform in the movie, “The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty” (1947). Note that the first dependent
clause makes the sentence syntactically correct,
but preposterous. It is followed by the second of
a pair of rhymed couplets that reveals the joke:
I’ll never forget the morning
that Grandpa ate the awning
to impress a pretty lady
who went for men that were shady.
A sentence must contain a noun phrase (or
a noun or pronoun) and a verb phrase. The mini-
mal noun phrase consists of an article and a noun
(e.g., the student; a ball). Other noun phrases can
be created from a possessive pronoun + noun
(e.g., her mother) or a possessive noun + noun
(e.g., John’s house). We can have an infinite num-
ber (theoretically, at least) of adjectives before the
noun and still have a noun phrase (e.g., the big
red ball). Look at our section (in the website) on
building your vocabulary by using Shakespeare’s
insults to see some colorful examples of adjec-
tives attached to nouns. The noun phrase can be
the subject in a sentence, usually appearing at
the beginning, or the object, usually appearing
at the end.
Verb phrases are a bit more complicated.
Transitive verbs require an object, whereas intran-
sitive verbs do not. For example, throwing is usu-
ally a transitive verb, requiring a noun phrase,
such as the ball, a fit, or the game. We can also
combine throwing with a particle, as in throw-
ing up, where up creates a phrasal verb, and
the object of the phrase (lunch or her food) is
understood. An intransitive verb does not take an
object, either specified or understood. For exam-
ple, the word sleep is intransitive, because you
do not sleep anything (except, perhaps, a wink).
Sentences, in their basic form, are usually
expressed in what is called canonical order,
sometimes called subject + verb + object (or SVO),
agent-action-object, or who does what to whom
order. The construction is a noun phrase + a verb
phrase, where the verb phrase includes a verb +
a noun phrase. This becomes clearer when look-
ing at tree diagrams (Figure 1–1), where S indi-
cates a sentence, N is a noun, V is a verb, NP is
a noun phrase, VP is a verb phrase, and T is an
article (the, in the present example). We are using
T here for clarity, instead of ART for article or
DET for determiner, as is typically used in books
on linguistics.
Tree diagrams are used principally in math-
ematics and linguistics. A parse tree represents
an entire linguistic structure, from S (sentence) to
leaf nodes (Singh + wrote + the + book). In the
example above, the definite article (“the”) is indi-
cated by D for determiner. It can be a challenge
to diagram ambiguous sentences. For example,

Figure 1–1. Example of a tree diagram, with a sentence in canonical order.
in the sentence, “Visiting relatives can be boring,”
the word visiting is an adjective if relatives have
come to visit you, but a verb if you have gone to
visit them. Try to create two parse trees for the
sentence, “Flying airplanes can be dangerous.”
The tree diagrams shown in Figures 1–1 and
1–2 represent examples of a simple sentence.
They are also examples of SAAD (simple, active,
affirmative, declarative) form, written in the pres-
ent tense in Figure 1–1 and past tense in Fig-
ure 1–2. Now let’s take out our language toy to
play with each element.
We can change a simple sentence to one
that is compound or complex. Using the example
above, we can create a compound sentence by
adding a conjunction (usually and and but, as
well as others) and another simple sentence, such
as, The student passes the test, and the teacher
is happy. To create a complex sentence, add a
phrase, not a sentence, and do not include a con-
junction. We often add a prepositional phrase to
a simple sentence to make it complex, as in, The
student who studied hard passes the test.
The second part of SAAD is active, which
we can change to passive. There are sentences
that can become reversible passives, such as The
1. Getting Started   9
cow chased the sheep where subject and object
can switch places. In the passive form, both The
sheep was chased by the cow (correct, given the
active form above), and The cow was chased by
the sheep (incorrect) are logical sentences. Errors
occur when canonical order is assumed in a pas-
sive sentence. In non-reversible constructions,
such as The boy ate the ice cream cone, S and
O (or agent and object) cannot logically switch
places. After all, cows can chase sheep and sheep
can chase cows. Boys can eat ice cream cones, but
ice cream cones cannot eat boys (except, perhaps,
on Sesame Street). Not surprisingly, children and
adults with language disorders have more com-
prehension problems when dealing with revers-
ible passives than with non-reversible passives.
The opposite of affirmative is negative, and
The student does not pass the test is an example
of the negative transformation. Finally, there are
three options for the last component, which can
be declarative, interrogative, or imperative. An
interrogative form might be, Does the student pass
the test? and an imperative form might be, Stu-
dent, pass the test! Of course, we can also change
tense to past tense, as in, The student passed the
test, or future tense, as in, The student will pass the
10   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Figure 1–2. A parse tree.
test. We can combine transformations and make
the sentence past tense, negative, and interroga-
tive, for example, as in, Didn’t the student pass
the test?
Competence and Performance
The work you will do in the exercises that fol-
low reflect what Chomsky (1957) called linguistic
performance, which refers to actual acts of speak-
ing, listening, reading, and writing, with temporal
limitations (your instructor may have given you
only five minutes to complete the exercise), and
subject to a variety of distractions (stomach rum-
bling from hunger; noisy class next door). The
task also requires linguistic competence, which
refers to the underlying set of rules for syntax,
meaning, and sound that make performance pos-
sible. We can’t always infer competence from per-
formance. The following is offered as an example
of how a typical adult’s syntactic competence may
be challenged, even by a short sentence.
The cow the sheep chased jumped. We under-
stand that the cow did the jumping and the sheep
did the chasing. Look what happens when we
add one more element: The cow the sheep the dog
chased jumped ran. Now we’re scratching our
heads, even though the sentence is syntactically
correct, if unusual. Adding the word “that” and
changing the order helps: The cow that the sheep
chased, that the dog jumped, ran. Does this give
you a bit more empathy for children and adults
with syntactic comprehension deficits?
Theoretically, we can insert an infinite num-
ber of relative clauses into a grammatically correct
sentence. However, when we insert even two rela-
tive clauses instead of one, our comprehension is
severely challenged. The advice given many years
ago by Rolnick and Hoops (1969) to use short,
simple sentences when speaking to adults with
aphasia certainly makes sense in this context.
The three sentence types—simple, compound,
and complex — are well named. Not surprisingly,
most writers have greatest difficulty with complex
sentences. Think of a complex sentence as an
independent clause plus a dependent clause. It
is fairly easy to write an independent clause, such
as The man ran up the stairs, and a dependent

clause (in this case, starting with a subordinating
conjunction) such as because he had to catch the
train. We then have three choices. The relative
clause can be right-branching, as in, The man ran
up the stairs because he had to catch the train;
left-branching, as in, Because he had to catch
the train, the man ran up the stairs; or center-
imbedded, as in, The man, because he had to
catch the train, ran up the stairs. All are correct,
although, in the current example, right-branching
seems most natural, and center-imbedded may
feel forced. The sentence, Throw the baby out the
window a cookie, seems not only a forced but a
criminal version of the sentence, Throw a cookie
out the window for the baby.
Apparent Regression
Young children may produce syntactic forms
that confound their parents, if not the SLP who
does the evaluation. The old ICP studies of Roger
Brown (1973) indicate that, in typical language
development in children, Imitation occurs before
Comprehension of language, and both precede
spontaneous Production. Accordingly, the child
who recites the Pledge of Allegiance in first grade
may have no idea what pledge or allegiance
mean. Saying that the child is a little linguist who
tries to write mental rules for a linguistic com-
munity is not the same as saying that the child
is a little adult. Rules may be written and modi-
fied frequently during language acquisition. The
3-year-old child who had previously said, “I went
out” and now says, “I goed out” might not need a
referral for speech-language pathology services.
This apparent regression may instead indicate
that the child has now overgeneralized the regu-
lar bound morpheme representing past tense to
a novel context, without understanding that “go”
is an irregular verb. Not having heard adults say
“goed,” the child may be demonstrating linguistic
competence for the regular past tense allomorph.
A Model of Syntax Training
In the website that accompanies this book, we
provide a program of instruction for forms of “to
be” (is, are, am), used as a verbal auxiliary (pre-
1. Getting Started   11
ceding a verb, as in, “He is running”) and copula
(preceding an adjective, as in, “We are hungry”).
Our purpose here is to examine the four levels of
programming, in terms of the degree of syntactic
support that the clinician provides to the client.
The following example refers to “to be” as a ver-
bal auxiliary, not as a copula. We are using the
structure: PN (pronoun) + Aux (auxiliary verb is/
are/am) + V (verb) + ING (the gerund form).
Level I: Who is verbing? (Interrogative
PN + Aux + V + ING) The target response
requires only substituting the subjective
pronoun “he,” “she,” or “it” for the inter-
rogative pronoun “who.” That is, if the
clinician asks, “Who is sitting?” the client
need provide only the target pronoun (let’s
say it’s “she”) to answer, “She is sitting.”
Level II: What is pronoun doing? (Inter-
rogative PN + Aux + PN + V + ING) The
client now needs to delete the interrogative
pronoun, move the subjective pronoun
provided by the clinician to the begin-
ning of the sentence, and substitute the
specific verb for the word “doing” when
responding, “She is sitting.” The auxiliary
verb (is) and the present participle form of
the verb (ing) are provided by the clinician.
Sitting may also be a gerund if it is used
as a noun, as in “The photographer had
a sitting for the wedding party” (Behrens,
2010).
Level III: What’s happening? (Interroga-
tive PN + contractible Aux + V + ING) The
grammatical structure is provided, but
the auxiliary verb now appears in its
contracted form (what’s instead of what
is). The client substitutes a subjective
pronoun for the interrogative pronoun,
while maintaining pronoun position in
the sentence. The auxiliary verb may be
used in contracted (she’s) or uncontracted
(she is) (except in some instances, such as
There she’s for There she is) form, and the
client substitutes the target verb for the
verb “happen” before adding the present
participle form (ing).
12   Professional Writing in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Level IV: Tell me about this picture. No
contextual or grammatical support is
provided.
Brain Mechanisms Underlying Syntax
Individuals with nonfluent (Broca’s type) aphasia
tend to have more difficulty retrieving verbs than
nouns, whereas the reverse is true for those adults
with fluent (Wernicke’s type) aphasia. Nonfluent
aphasia is associated with damage to the fron-
tal lobe in the left hemisphere of the brain, and
fluent aphasia with left temporal infarction. It is
not surprising that Broca’s area, located near the
primary motor cortex, may be expected to influ-
ence action words (verbs); and that Wernicke’s
area, near what is sometimes called the “mental
dictionary” in the fusiform gyrus, is more associ-
ated with nouns.
Some programs in communication sciences
and disorders have a laboratory for research with
a form of electroencephalography (EEG) called
event-related potentials (ERP). An electrode net
is placed on the head, and one-second EEG sig-
nal plots may be averaged over “easy,” “difficult,”
and “control” trials from −100 ms to 900 ms. ERP
signals are described in terms of positive and
negative peaks and their latencies. Early com-
ponents indicate intensity of the stimulus, and
later components show attention to the stimulus.
Brain responses may yield N400 signals (a nega-
tive peak occurring 400 milliseconds after presen-
tation of the stimulus) for associative/semantic
tasks. The response may be generated by having
an individual engage in picture naming. A P600
signal may occur for syntactic processing, when
individuals engage in a verb generation task.
Agrammatism and Paragrammatism
Individuals with nonfluent aphasia often have
impaired expressive syntax, sometimes called
agrammatism. There does not have to be an
equivalent impairment (concordance) in recep-
tive syntax, so some individuals who show the
characteristic omission of function words (such
as articles, auxiliary verbs, and prepositions) can
recognize their absence in comprehension tasks.
Agrammatic language is sometimes described as
telegraphic, referring to pre-electronic communi-
cation days, when people would pay by the word
to send a telegram. Accordingly, the lexical or
content words were included, and the helping or
function words were omitted. If you were robbed
overseas, and could pay for only five words,
“American Embassy Geneva Send Money” would
probably work. Deleting the functors “[I am at
the] American Embassy [in] Geneva” might not
detract from your message, and you would have
saved the cost of another five words. Where one
notable characteristic of agrammatism is deletion
of functors, individuals with paragrammatism
(associated with fluent aphasia) may substitute
one function word for another. One of our rules
for writing diagnostic reports (see Chapter 8) is
to say what the patient does, not what the patient
is, so it is not appropriate to label an individual as
having paragrammatism because of a substitution
or two of a function word.
Typical Errors in Grammar
What about errors that people with typical brains
(such as yours) might make? In our experience,
they include run-on sentences and sentence frag-
ments. We have addressed other frequent errors,
including lack of agreement, as well as the mis-
placed apostrophe, in other sections of this book.
Run-on sentences: “Don’t walk on the kitchen
floor I just washed it.” Does this sound like your
mother, spoken in exasperation and haste? Run-
on sentences can often be saved by a single stra-
tegic placement of a semicolon; in the present
example, after the word “floor.” Other sentences
run on intentionally, as is apparent to anyone
attempting to read James Joyce. We grant Joyce,
one of the greatest writers in the English lan-
guage, some leeway, but in professional writing,
clarity, not literary merit, is paramount.
Sentence fragments: We have been told that
the only people who insist on complete sentences
in oral English are elementary school principals
and speech-language pathologists. Most people
would agree, though, that written sentences
should be complete. A sentence fragment is not
necessarily a short one. In fact, some writers lose
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 Although the associate of Adherbal and Ariston, Imlico was not
only much younger, but a man of less determinedly bad principles
than they. In short, he had a good heart; while he had no objection to
taking love where he could find it, and that without burdening himself
with many scruples, yet he did not at all approve of the villainous
scheme suggested by the others, to bend the ladies to their will by
force, or by fraud, or by a combination of both. He was, however, in a
minority, and kept his feelings to himself for fear of the personal
danger which he knew he would run had he dared to so much as hint
at them.
And now as he wandered away with Cleandra in the faint light of a
young moon, across the garden where the fire-flies flitted from bush
to bush, and the air was redolent of the sweet odour of the orange
blossoms, he felt himself falling deeply in love with the beautiful and
high-bred girl by his side, about whose unresisting waist he wound
his arm. And, apart from the scheme she had at heart, Cleandra in
turn felt a strong sympathy for young Imlico, which, with the drowsy
langour of the scented air, grew stronger every minute. And when at
length they stood upon the battlements and looked out upon the sea,
she readily yielded her lips to his ardent embrace.
Cleandra was absolutely in Elissa’s confidence, and knew her
deeply-laid plans, and did not for a moment think that Hannibal’s
daughter, or the other three ladies, were in any other danger than
that of their own seeking. She had, therefore, smiled inwardly when
the foolish little princess had, like herself, wandered away in the
earlier part of the evening, doubtless to find a shelter and indulge in
a flirtation in one of the shady summer-houses in the garden. But
knowing Elissa’s plans, she imagined that it was Adherbal and his
companions who were in danger, not only of present captivity, but of
crucifixion, and it did not, from any point of view, at all suit her that
this handsome young noble, with whom she had so rapidly fallen in
love, should be either a captive or crucified. Therefore, although she
did not intend to betray Elissa, she determined to make use of her
plans for her own advantage, and the opportunity for so doing was
not long in coming.
Imlico had just made her an ardent declaration. He vowed by all
the gods that he adored her, and urged her to fly with him to his ship
on the morrow’s morn.
“I will gladly fly with thee, Imlico,” replied the maiden, looking with
burning glances into his eyes, “if thou wilt swear by Melcareth and
Moloch to reveal nothing that I tell thee, to do exactly as I direct thee,
and not to quit me for a moment. Then not only will I fly with thee, but
that not to-morrow’s morn, but this very night.”
Enraptured, the enamoured young man pledged himself by the
most solemn oaths to reveal nothing, and to follow her bidding
exactly.
“Then listen closely, Imlico. I will fly with thee this very night simply
to save thine own life, for it is in danger should thou stay an hour
later here. For all the plot upon which ye are come hither is known,
and before this time to-morrow thou and thy three companions are to
be crucified upon this very battlement. Dost thou see the row of
crosses beyond? They have been erected this evening on purpose
for ye. They were not there when we rowed back from the harbour
entrance this afternoon. The guards are but waiting the order to
seize ye all.”
In spite of himself, Imlico started back and shuddered when he
now saw, for the first time, the gruesome preparations for his own
execution. But he speedily recovered himself with a laugh, and
taking the plump Cleandra in his arms, kissed her heartily.
“By Astarte! thou didst give me a fright, little one, for the minute,
but I thank thee for thy confidence and kindly interest in myself. And
now confidence for confidence. Know this then, that Elissa and all of
you women in this palace are, indeed, in danger if you will, saving
only thyself, for thee I would not harm. But we Carthaginian nobles
and our followers are in no danger from thy guards, and I will even
now prove it to thee. Let us advance to where yonder sentinel is
pacing by the postern gateway. We will stroll by him, and, when he
challenges, thou shalt reply and give the password. Then thou shalt
see who is in danger.”
With the girl on his arm, Imlico rapidly paced along the battlements
to the sentry, who cried out:
“Halt! Let one only advance and give the countersign.”
Imlico pushed his fair companion, who boldly advanced and said,
“Saguntum,” which was the password arranged in the palace for the
night.
“ ’Tis the wrong password,” answered the sentinel, lowering his
spear point towards her. “Thou canst not pass.”
Imlico laughingly now advanced in turn.
“The lady hath made a mistake, oh sentry. Carthage is the
password she would have given.”
“Pass Carthage, and all’s well,” replied the guard, and so they
passed in.
It was now Cleandra’s turn to shudder and start. “What? have the
guards been changed?” she asked, “and the countersign?”
“Ay, that have they, fair Cleandra; and further know this that ye
have not now a single man fit for duty within the whole palace walls,
for all thy guards are by this time drugged, senseless, or bound.
Thou seest clearly now that none of Elissa’s guests are in any
danger, to-night at all events.”
Cleandra now thought of the story about Hannibal’s troops
marching in, which had been merely an arranged plan, by which the
same troops should appear over and over again. For it will be
remembered that these troops could only be seen from the palace
when descending on to the landward end of the bridge by the big
gate of the city. So the troops that had been employed had marched
across the bridge, then embarked in boats, followed up the city walls,
crossed the lagoon, and then marching up a winding little pass that
lay between the hills, had shown themselves again. And the best of
the arrangement had been that all the mercenaries in the ships had,
until dark fell, also noticed these troops arriving continually as if from
Saguntum, for they saw them plainly crossing the top of a hill. In her
need, for she wished to frighten Imlico, Cleandra made use of this
plot.
“Ay, if thus by fraud the palace is Adherbal’s, then thou art safe for
to-night, my good friend, Imlico. But didst thou not notice all the
troops that were continually marching over the bridge while yet we
were at table? They were the advance guard of a large portion of
Hannibal’s forces that are being sent back from Saguntum. Many
more will arrive to-morrow morn. Canst thou not see, glistening in the
moonlight, the tents that have been erected for them on yonder
eastern hill. This palace, therefore, even if held by thy few men, will
be easily recaptured, and thou and all thine will most undoubtedly be
crucified. Therefore thou must fly to-night. But now let us go back to
the verandah, for Elissa may have sore need of me ere I go, and I
would save her if I could. It grieves me sadly to leave her, but I feel
that in thee I have found the man I love, and I would save thy life,
while her life, at all events, is not in danger. But without me thou wilt
never pass alive the guards stationed at the harbour mouth. With me
thou art safe.”
Imlico was now thoroughly alert; the girl had convinced him of his
great danger. It was just when they had reached the end of the
verandah that Elissa had commenced to scream under Adherbal’s
brutal grasp, and Melania likewise in the clutch of Ariston.
Then Cleandra had begged Imlico to allow her to fly to the young
girl’s assistance, but he had restrained her. These were the protests
that Elissa had heard.
“Let me go, let me go, Imlico! I will save her from the brute! and
Melania is in danger also.”
“Let thee go? Never! They are in the danger that all pretty young
women run, ’tis true; but what is that to thee or me? Man is man and
woman woman, and no one seeks their lives, while shouldst thou
foolishly interfere at this inopportune moment thy life will surely pay
the forfeit, for both Adherbal and Ariston are brutes when their
passions are aroused, and would surely slay thee. Stay here, I say,
with me, for with me alone thou art safe. Thou shalt stay,” and
forcibly he detained her.
Thus Cleandra was the unwilling witness of Elissa’s abduction,
and also heard the brutal attack made by Ariston on Melania.
Ariston had drunk himself into a state of utter intoxication, and was
absolutely careless of what he was doing. He saw Adherbal carrying
Elissa off in his arms and strove to emulate his example. But Melania
was very tall and strong and made a most vigorous resistance, which
Ariston was unable to overcome. Whereupon, with brutal ferocity, he
attempted to half strangle her, for he did not by any means intend to
kill her. He very nearly succeeded in his foul attempt, but suddenly
Cleandra, who was still being forcibly detained by Imlico, heard a
groan and the sound of a fall. Tearing herself from her companion,
she rushed forward and found both Ariston and Melania lying
prostrate on the floor of the verandah. In the struggle that had taken
place the couple had moved into the light of the lamp hanging in the
doorway, and there they had fallen.
A gruesome sight it was that now met Cleandra’s eyes. His throat
transfixed with a small dagger, which Melania had worn that evening
through her hair, Ariston was lying, not dead, but open-eyed and
speechless, with a stream of blood flowing slowly from his neck.
Alongside him, with raiment sadly torn and disordered, lay Melania,
unconscious and death-like, with discoloured face and frothy blood
upon her lips. Cleandra screamed loudly, and would have fallen, too,
had not Imlico, rushing forward, caught her swaying form in his arms.
As she fell weeping upon her knees by the side of Melania, Imlico,
whom this tragedy had alarmed, begged her to be firm, as immediate
action was necessary if either or both of them were to be saved, and
he urged upon her the necessity of instant flight.
Although Cleandra had fully made up her mind to escape that
night, she was not prepared to go without seeing Elissa again, or
making some attempt, she knew not what, to save her. Suddenly she
leapt to her feet and wiped her tears, as an idea sprung to her mind,
and her nerve came back.
“Wait here,” she said to Imlico; “thou hast sworn to obey my
directions. Shouldst thou fail in thy word, count not then on me to
save thy life, for it is doomed! Therefore wait for me here by the
doorway. Strive to restore Melania, lift her up against the pillar, and
give her air.”
She sprung within, and rushed to the room where Maharbal had
been left lying on his couch, senseless when she had seen him last.
To her joy she found him now perfectly conscious, with eyes not only
open but intelligent. Pale he looked, indeed, and weak, but he was a
man—the only man who could be stirred to action in the whole place.
It would not matter, so Cleandra thought, what should happen to him
after, could he but prove of use to Elissa now. She took his sword
and thrust it into his hands.
“Maharbal,” she said, “Elissa hath just been borne off into his
apartment by Adherbal, who arrived here to-day. There may yet be
time to save her, but Melania hath been slain while struggling with
his companion, Ariston. Canst thou move? I will show thee the room.
Thou hast perchance yet strength to rise and use this weapon.”
Maharbal bounded from his couch, his eyes on fire.
“Only show me the room, Cleandra, show me, quick!” He
staggered as he rose from the couch, but Cleandra steadied him
with her arm.
“This way,” she said, and he followed her, still leaning on her
shoulder, and collecting his shattered wits and strength. She
proceeded direct to Adherbal’s apartment, and, pausing for a
second, said rapidly, “Maharbal, I am powerless to help Elissa
further, and now it is for thee to do so if there be yet time. The palace
and the palace gates are both in the hands of Adherbal’s people, but
I am escaping with Imlico, one of his nobles, simply and solely as a
means of alarming the troops on guard outside, who will come to the
rescue. Meanwhile, thou must act.”
She opened the door, only to see Elissa all dishevelled in the arms
of Adherbal, and fainting on a couch. He was fanning her face, and
apparently striving to restore her. She opened her eyes at that
instant with returning consciousness. She saw and recognised
Cleandra and Maharbal. A gleam of hope sprung to the wretched
young girl’s eyes.
“Maharbal,” she cried faintly, “Maharbal! save me! avenge me!”
Maharbal sprang upon Adherbal, who, snatching up his dagger
from the side of the couch, where it had fallen, turned to meet him
with the angry growl of a tiger, but of a tiger who has been baulked of
his prey.
In a second Maharbal struck down his foe with a terrible blow,
which almost severed his right arm at the shoulder. A second later
his sword was at his throat.
“No,” cried Elissa, springing up, her bosom exposed, and hair
wildly tossed about. “Slay him not now, think of the outrage he hath
put upon me. Reserve him for crucifixion. Think what an insult he
hath put upon me, who love thee; to me, Elissa, Hannibal’s
daughter.”
“Yes, crucify the villain, Maharbal,” cried Cleandra also, “and
Ariston likewise, if he be alive to-morrow, which I doubt. As for Zeno,
I know not what the princess hath done with him. Hold now thy
sword at his throat, while I bind him with these curtain ropes, and
gag him with this ’kerchief. There, that is done. Now leave him here
and lock the door, and do thou, Maharbal, and thou, Elissa, stay
together in Maharbal’s apartment. Come thither quickly, draw in
Melania, and barricade the door if ye would live throughout the night.
As for me, Elissa, I must leave thee now and for ever, although my
first object in flying from thee and slavery will be to send immediate
relief to thee and Maharbal. This I can do by escaping with Imlico,
whom I have won over to me. With him I can pass the few sentinels
that Adherbal hath placed on the walls, and I have arranged a plan in
my mind, so that upon my arriving at the harbour entrance, I can
send some of our men, who will obtain admission at once. For I will
give them the Carthaginian password, which I know, and, on leaving,
I will make Imlico tell the sentinel at the postern gate to expect some
of Adherbal’s troops to arrive shortly.
“Another thing I can do for thee and New Carthage through Imlico.
It is this, I can carry out the plot on the lines of thy two letters to
Adherbal, and so induce the fleet, partly from fear of Hannibal’s
army, partly by greed and hope of gain, to leave for Saguntum at
once. And now farewell, Elissa. Do not think hardly of me for flying
with Imlico. Think that I was the woman who, through Maharbal’s
right arm and with the help of the great god Melcareth, was the
means of saving thine honour. Here then stay now for safety in
Maharbal’s apartment. I will first bid Imlico bring in to ye Melania,
and then I will depart. She hath, I rejoice to say, wounded the
scoundrel Ariston sorely with her dagger; yet I trust he may live for
the cross to-morrow, since he thoroughly deserves it.”
Cleandra now returned to Imlico, and, enjoining silence, made him
bear the body of Melania, who still appeared perfectly lifeless, into
Maharbal’s room. Then she and Elissa fell upon each other’s necks
and parted with tears of sorrow.
Seizing Imlico by the arm, Cleandra passed with him swiftly to the
postern gate, where her lover gave the password “Carthage,” and
told the sentinel to shortly expect some troops, and to admit them.
At the bottom of the staircase the crew of the State galley were
sleeping. These she aroused and ordered to man the boat, as she
was on pressing business of their mistress Elissa, Regent and
Governor of New Carthage. And as they all knew her, they made no
difficulty about complying.
Speedily and in silence did she and Imlico proceed to the south
entrance to the harbour, where, on giving “Saguntum” as the
watchword, she was able to land and see the officer in command at
that point. To him she confided the whole position of affairs, and after
ordering him in Elissa’s name instantly to proceed with a body of
men to the rescue of those in the palace, and giving him the
watchword “Carthage” wherewith to effect an entrance, she re-
embarked in the State barge, and rowed off to the flagship with
Imlico. There the arrangements that she made through her lover and
the reports which she spread were such that, when dawn broke,
there was considerable consternation throughout the fleet. For they
learned that Adherbal was a prisoner, and likewise Zeno and Ariston,
and that an enormous encampment had been raised upon the
eastern hills during the night. Moreover, in accordance with Elissa’s
cunning design, musical instruments and bugles were sounding,
while all the small body of men available for the purpose were
constantly moving up and down in front of the first row of tents in the
camp.
The men on the fleet, and indeed Imlico himself, were easily
convinced that a large force of Hannibal’s had actually come in. The
mercenaries, therefore, now deprived of their leader, were not at all
disposed to attack the city; but, on the other hand, being fired with
the accounts they had overheard the previous evening of the capture
of the enormous spoil at Saguntum, news of which had spread all
through the fleet, were anxious to go off and join Hannibal himself,
and share in the booty of the place. When, further, an hour or two
after daybreak, two of the crucifixes upon the walls of the palace,
which were plainly visible from the fleet, were seen to be first
lowered and then raised again, each with the body of a man
attached, consternation fell upon all the mercenaries. For they knew
that these human forms must be those of Adherbal and one of his
attendants. As a matter of fact, they actually were Adherbal and
Ariston, who were thus paying the penalty for their brutal crimes. As
for Zeno of Rhodes, he was spared at the supplication of the
Princess Cœcilia, and merely, with all Adherbal’s men, confined as a
prisoner in the dungeons. Without waiting for any orders now, every
ship commenced preparations to make sail.
Cleandra had no intention whatever of going herself to Saguntum,
where she would certainly have been seized by Hannibal as his
runaway slave. She therefore impressed upon Imlico the great risk
that he would himself run if he arrived without any letter to prove to
the great commander his innocence of complicity in Adherbal’s
crimes, and seeing his danger, he readily listened to her advice. He
disembarked all of the mercenaries on board the flagship, and sent
them off in detachments to the other ships in the fleet. He then,
having promised large sums of money to the ship’s captain, the
officers, and the crew, persuaded them to turn her head the other
way, and to set all sail for Carthage. And by the time of their arrival at
the port of that queen of all the cities of the seas, Cleandra had
obtained such an ascendancy over her lover’s somewhat weak mind,
and he was, moreover, himself so infatuated with her, that, upon
landing, he made her his lawful wife.
And thus, by the nerve and well-designed plans of Elissa, coupled
with the cunning and cleverness of Cleandra, was the honour of
Hannibal’s daughter saved, and a great plot against Hannibal himself
brought to nought.
 CHAPTER VII.
MELANIA’S MISERY.

Hannibal was not long in learning at Saguntum of what had taken

place in New Carthage, and was in possession, in most accurate
detail, of all the facts from Elissa’s own pen, before the fleet, laden
with the mercenaries, arrived. She had, at the end of her letter,
added that Melania’s recovery, after being despaired of, was now
assured.
Hannibal was particularly pleased with Maharbal’s conduct, and
gave orders that he was to be appointed at once to the command of
the Numidian Cavalry, while the proceeds of the sale of a large
portion of the spoil of Saguntum, and half-a-dozen splendid chargers
which had been taken from the enemy, were also to be despatched
to him in New Carthage. For Elissa had informed her father that,
owing to his exertions, the young man’s wound had broken out
bleeding afresh, and that he was not able to move from the palace,
nor could he for some time to come.
Hannibal would not have been the great general and leader of
men that he was if he had not been remarkably astute. His intuition
was so great, that he could, so to speak, see the end of a book
before another man had finished reading the title-page. In all the
years he warred in Iberia, Gaul, Italy, and Carthage, and in all the
alliances he made with tribes once hostile to him, never was there a
single conspiracy made against his life, though assassination and
treachery were common; from which it must be concluded, that he
could read well the characters of the men with whom he had to deal,
and knew how best to deal with them.
When he read through his daughter’s letter, he was with his two
younger brothers. He indulged freely in curses against Adherbal and
all his crew, especially the treacherous party of Hanno, now
paramount in Carthage. But when he read that Maharbal was not
able to leave the palace, he burst out laughing violently.
 “What art thou laughing at, Hannibal?” quoth Mago, the younger of
his two brothers, and a great personal friend of Maharbal. “I see
nothing to laugh at in the fact of Maharbal’s being still a sufferer,
owing to his having been the saviour of thy daughter and my niece’s
honour. It seems to have been a case of touch and go, and he, with
Cleandra’s aid—whose freedom, by the bye, should now be granted
—undoubtedly saved her in the very nick of time. I think it is no
laughing matter that a good soldier and good fellow like Maharbal
should be still so dangerously ill.”
“Thou young simpleton,” answered Hannibal, “canst not see
through it? I, at all events, know Elissa, the little minx, and that she is
in love with the young giant, and perceive clearly that now she
maketh him out far worse than he is on purpose to keep him nigh
her. I saw the wound he had; ’twas nothing serious for a man of his
physique. Had it been so, I would never have despatched him on
that tremendous ride. But if we heed not, where that rascally
scoundrel Adherbal failed to succeed by force, Maharbal will,
although he is the very soul of honour, win in spite of himself; for in
her gratitude, she will throw herself into his arms whether he will or
no; if, indeed, she hath not done so already, for she hath the
passionate nature of her Spanish mother. And then we may have to
marry them, which I, for one, do not at all wish, for, in my opinion,
Maharbal married will be a good soldier ruined. As regards Elissa
herself, I should not mind, for, seeing his birth and breeding, she
could scarcely do better, yet, for the sake of the country, I might
perchance wed her to some king. Still, I say that I can always marry
them later should it be found advisable.
“But pay attention, my brothers. I have such an enterprise in my
head, which I have not yet informed you of, that I want with me no
married men with young wives left at home to think about. So I fear
that I must spoil my daughter Elissa’s little scheme, no matter at
what stage things may be; although, since I love her very sincerely, I
grieve to give her pain. But for the reasons I have mentioned they
must be separated. Therefore, can either of you devise a scheme
which will, without hurting either Elissa’s honour or her self-respect,
separate her completely, and make her throw over Maharbal of her
own accord, cause her to do it, too, in such a manner that he will
from his own feelings of pride wish to have no more to do with her?”
Hasdrubal, the elder brother, who was cunning, now answered
with a quiet smile:
“Well, it is unkind to Maharbal certainly; but he is a good soldier,
and should not be spoilt as thou sayst, and I can give thee the cue,
Hannibal. But it would grieve Elissa, and since I love the girl, I think
that for her own protection she would be better married. So, perhaps,
I had better keep the idea to myself, and let her marry him.”
“No, no,” answered Hannibal determinedly. “I will have no
marriage, I tell thee, Hasdrubal. What is thy plan?”
“Oh, well, it is simple enough. Thou art sending to Maharbal
money, thou art sending him horses; but thou hast forgotten he is
entitled to yet another share of the spoil, thou hast sent him no
slaves. Now, methinks, if thou wert to send him one of the most
beautiful of these beautiful young Greek girls that we have captured,
Elissa’s pride and jealousy would cause her to throw him over at
once. I have, among my share of spoils, got so many of them that I
do not know what to do with them all. I came across this morning, for
the first time, a most lovely maiden of some sixteen summers,
named, I think, Chloe. By the goddess Tanais and all her mysteries,
she is a gem indeed, this Chloe; why not then send her to Maharbal
with thy greeting, Hannibal, and the trick is done at once? The pretty
child was weeping as though she had lost a lover, and Maharbal
might perchance console her.”
“Is that all?” answered Hannibal, with a sneer. “Oh, my clever
brother Hasdrubal, be assured that Maharbal would, after
acknowledging the gift, sell her on the following morning to the
highest bidder, or give her to Elissa herself to show his constancy, as
he would have a right to do. No, that will not do; we must think of
something better than thy Chloe.”
“I have it, then,” interposed Mago. “Who is there in all thy court at
New Carthage so handsome and beautiful, so clever and cunning,
as that tall, dark girl, Melania, daughter of Mandonius, the brother of
the king of the Ilergetes, the girl who has been lately so nearly killed?
We all know that she would give her very eyes for Maharbal, so why
not make a present of her to him? he would soon have to love her in
spite of himself—for like begets like. Nothing, moreover, would
sooner create a breach between Maharbal and Elissa, than to give
him a girl whom she has been accustomed to look upon as her own
slave, and of whom she is, if I am not mistaken, a little jealous
already.”
“Stay a moment,” replied the great General. “I believe, Mago, that
thou hast hit the right nail on the head this time. I have had brought
to me, but secretly, by the very same messenger that brought
Elissa’s letter, a letter from the girl herself. I threw it on one side
thinking that it was merely some petition for freedom of the usual
kind, but there may be something more in it. Let us see—I have it
over there. As my wound incommodes me, wilt thou bring it hither,
brother, and open it?”
Mago opened and read it to himself before handing it to Hannibal.
As he concluded he gave a low whistle.
“Indeed, oh, Hannibal, my brother, I have, while striking at random,
hit the right nail on the head this time even as thou saidst. I will read
the letter aloud, and thou shalt judge if this will not exactly suit thee.
And, further, not only will Maharbal not be able to refuse, but I, his
friend, am by no means anxious to commiserate with him, for I
consider him a very lucky fellow indeed. In fact, in spite of all my
Greek slaves, I quite envy him his good fortune. For I would not mind
being in his shoes myself.”
“Read the letter,” quoth Hannibal.
Mago read as follows:—

“In the name of the Goddess Tanais, the Queen of

Carthage, the Queen of Love, the Queen of the Seas,
Greeting.
“From Melania, daughter of Mandonius, brother of the King
Andobales, King of Central Iberia, to Hannibal, son of
Hamilcar.
“My lord Hannibal, thou wilt have heard the news, how that
Elissa and I were in the hands of two ruffianly nobles from
Carthage, both since duly crucified by the mercy of Moloch
the great god of sacrifice, and how we both narrowly escaped
grievous wrong. My lord, our salvation and the salvation of
New Carthage was only due to the timely arrival of Maharbal,
the son of Manissa, brother to King Syphax of Numidia. He
saved Elissa and cut down her aggressor Adherbal. His
watchful care over myself hath also saved me from the very
jaws of death, for I was almost strangled by the ruffian Ariston
of Carthage; but he hath watched me like a brother, and I am,
thanks to him, restored.
“My lord Hannibal, in this thy palace Maharbal is beloved of
all the women for his bravery, his devotion to thyself, and his
manly strength; above all one loveth him, even Elissa.
Pardon, I pray thee, the humble supplication of thy servant
Melania, but methinks that it would be well, seeing her high
position, if so be thy will, that thou shouldst cause them to
wed shortly. Thus will they be made happy, and the report of
evil tongues be stayed. Further there can, once this be
accomplished, be no more heart-burnings and jealousies
among the foolish women here about thy palace, which said
heart-burnings are apt to cause dissensions. Especially the
Princess Cœcilia would be no longer able to annoy the Lady
Elissa as she doth now by her folly about the young man. My
lord, I love Elissa as I respect her, and it is in her interests and
for the honour of thy name that I have dared to mention these
things, therefore I pray thee forgive thy slave.
“But lest thou shouldst imagine, oh my lord Hannibal, that
there is no due cause for this letter, then know this, that there
are other and weightier reasons which impel me to write.
Although thy slave, thou hast ever treated me as thy
daughter’s friend, and such indeed I am, the friend of thy
house.
“Therefore know this, I have been lately in frequent
communication with my younger sisters, the daughters of
Mandonius. From them I have learned that great discontent
exists against thee and thy government on the part of both my
father Mandonius and his brother Andobales, king of the
Ilergetes, formerly despot of all Central Iberia. One cause, but
only one cause out of many for this discontent, is that I am still
retained a slave, and they fancy that I am not happy in thy
 household. My lord Hannibal, couldst thou take steps to
assure them of my complete content and happiness, and
shouldst thou see fit to send me with a suitable escort on a
mission to the court of Andobales, it is my belief that I could
easily attach both mine uncle Andobales and my father
Mandonius firmly to thine own person and to the cause of
Carthage. My lord, I know more than I have committed to
paper, therefore I pray thee forgive the boldness in thus
addressing thee of thy slave
“Melania.”

Both Hannibal and Hasdrubal his brother smiled when this letter
was ended, and the former remarked:
“Ay, Mago, my lad, I see it, despite all the girl’s cunning. She is
indeed a clever girl, and she wants me to give her to Maharbal, and
by Melcareth! she shall have her wish, for she can be useful, ay,
indeed more than useful to me at the present juncture. I have sore
need of the close alliance of the whole of the Ilergetes and of all the
great tribes dependant upon them, for we shall not long be left alone
in Iberia, since the Romans will soon be sending their legions here.
And this girl can win us this alliance as she saith. But for all that I will
not give her her liberty, nay, nor marry her to Maharbal, for he
certainly shall not marry her if I let him not wed Elissa; further, I
would keep a hold on the girl. But for the interests of the State I will,
as she desireth, make her happy. I will therefore give her to
Maharbal, at all events for the time being. He shall leave the palace
at New Carthage, and whether he will or no shall take her to live with
him, with the understanding given to her by me that she is to be
considered as his affianced wife, to be wedded and set free when I
see fit. If that will not make her happy, then I am not named
Hannibal. I am not, alas! so sure of Maharbal himself, nor of Elissa.
But reasons of State ever are paramount, and all must bend to my
will or suffer for it.”
And Hannibal frowned deeply at the mere idea of being thwarted
in any way.
“No one dare oppose thy will, brother,” said Hasdrubal, “for thou
art king here absolutely; although thou wearest not the crown thou
couldst any day, an thou would, place it upon thy brow. Thy plan is a
good one as I see it. For it will firstly have the effect of separating
Elissa from Maharbal; secondly, it will prevent the latter from
marrying at all; thirdly, thou canst send the girl Melania under the
escort of Maharbal himself to the court of King Andobales, and she
can point to him as her affianced husband. That will more than
content these barbarians, especially when they know how highly he
stands in thy favour, and that he is, leaving his high connections on
one side, commander of all the Numidian Cavalry.”
“It shall be done without delay,” said the chief. “Call in my faithful
Greek friend and scribe, Silenus; he shall write the necessary letters
for us. He hath a cunning hand hath Silenus, and knoweth well how
to convey an order so that it is thoroughly understood, yet seemeth
but intended as a favour. But at all events, Maharbal shall not marry,
and to my mind Elissa is too young to be married yet. Further, she
may be useful to the State later.”
These reflections he added meditatively, as if sorry for the blow
that he was about to inflict upon his daughter.
Then Silenus, who was ever Hannibal’s closest friend, and who
accompanied him in all his wanderings, was called in, and three
letters were written—to Elissa, Maharbal, and Melania respectively,
all carefully worded.
In about a week the courier bearing the letters arrived at New
Carthage, where they caused considerable stir and many heart-
burnings.
That to Elissa, after conveying the warmest praise for her conduct,
intimated the speedy arrival of Hannibal himself, and then referred to
Maharbal. Of him the Commander-in-Chief said, that since he was
the only officer in the whole of the Carthaginian army of those who
had served before Saguntum who had no female slaves, and that
Elissa herself being unmarried and Maharbal residing in the palace
with her, some talk was being bandied about the camp which were
best suppressed, therefore, Hannibal considered it best that
Maharbal should leave the palace forthwith, and as he seemed not
yet wholly recovered from his wound, that he should take Melania
with him to watch him until his recovery. Further, Hannibal intimated
to his daughter that, as there were reasons of State for this
arrangement, he trusted to her duty, even if she should herself have
formed any attachment for the young man, to offer no opposition to
her father’s projects. The letter ended with instructions to send the
unfortunate Zeno and the captive guards of Adherbal to perpetual
slavery in the silver mines.
To Maharbal were conveyed the warmest thanks and praise of his
Commander-in-Chief, an intimation of his promotion, and of the
despatch to him of much gold and many horses; further, a deed of
gift conveying to him a house belonging to Hannibal, situated near
the citadel. He was also informed that, as a reward for his bravery
and devotion, Melania was appointed to be his companion, and,
although Hannibal would himself not resign his own vested rights in
her, she was to be considered in all other respects as his slave.
Finally, Hannibal enjoined upon Maharbal that, for reasons of his
own, he expected him to do all in his power to make Melania happy
in every respect; also the necessity of his impressing upon everyone
that Melania was not merely his slave but his affianced bride, to be
wedded when his commander should see fit.
In a kindly-worded note, in Hannibal’s own hand on a separate
paper, the contents of which he was enjoined to keep to himself,
Maharbal was informed that he need be in no fear of being plunged
into any immediate wedlock, for that Hannibal had no intention of
having any of his superior officers married for a long time to come,
not, at all events, before certain work of great importance that he had
in hand should be completed.
Before the arrival of these letters, Maharbal and Elissa had been
living in a state of halcyon bliss, the only disturbing element to cause
any trouble having been the foolish little Princess Cœcilia, who, with
her mania for flirtation, had been incessantly casting eyes at the
young Colossus, and indeed making love to him very openly. For she
was dying to get married again, and had conceived the idea of
marrying Maharbal himself. As for Melania, she had suffered greatly
for some days after her escape, and had, during the days that
Maharbal, sick himself, had tended her like a brother, in no wise ever
allowed her feelings to get the upper hand of her self-constraint, nor
allowed her inward devotion and passionate attachment to him to
appear outwardly. As Elissa had also been kindness itself to her, she
had, indeed, during those days of sore sickness, resolved to subdue
self entirely, and to banish from her heart the love she bore to the
gallant officer of the Numidian Horse. Thus it had been solely with
the intention of striving to make her two benefactors happy, while
removing temptation from herself, that she had secretly written as
she had done in the first part of her letter to Hannibal. The latter part
spoke for itself. But her self-abnegation had been utterly
misunderstood by the great commander and his brothers, who had
quite misjudged her, with the result that is known.
The letter that she received herself came to her as a surprise. No
mention was made of the letter that she had sent to Hannibal, but his
to her commenced by saying that he expected shortly to have need
of her services on an important matter; that he regretted to hear of
the danger she had been in, and that he rejoiced at her escape, and
at the condign punishment of her aggressor.
Then the letter continued, that Hannibal, ever mindful of the
happiness of those who had done good service to the State, had not
forgotten her or Maharbal, and was anxious to make them both
happy. Therefore, since Maharbal had not, in the usual fashion of the
army, any female slave living with him, and as he was universally
well spoken of by men and women alike, he had decreed that, for the
present, she was to remove herself from the palace, and to reside
with Maharbal in the house which he himself was going to give him
as a residence. Further, that she was not to consider that she was
being treated lightly in this matter, although she was undoubtedly at
present a slave, nor was she to consider herself merely in the same
light as any other slave-girl who might be the temporary mistress of
the home of one of the nobles in the Carthaginian army. For
Hannibal, bearing the greatest good-will to both Maharbal and
herself, and recognising that, from her birth, she was in a position to
be his wife, had decreed that, while under Maharbal’s roof, Melania
was to be considered and treated as his affianced bride. She was
informed that the actual marriage should take place at such time, as,
in the opinion of Hannibal, it conveniently might, and that, at the
same time, her freedom would be conferred upon her.
The letter ended: “Thou art to show unto Maharbal this my letter
unto thee, and show it further to my daughter, Elissa, Regent and
Governor of New Carthage.”
The terribly mixed feelings with which Melania read this letter
caused her poor fluttering heart to beat as though her bosom would
burst. There was no joy she longed for in life more than to become
all in all to Maharbal, although, alas! she well knew that he did not
love her, but only loved Elissa. Thus, despite her love, she hated the
idea of being compelled to live under his roof as his wife, for this was
very plainly the General’s intention. Again, she knew how Maharbal
himself would take the matter, and she dreaded his scorn and
neglect. She also feared the anger and revenge of which she might
be the sufferer at the hands of Elissa, whose ardent love for
Maharbal she well knew, for she had seen it indulged in openly and
unrestrainedly by the young girl before her very eyes. For Elissa,
with all the thoughtless folly of youth, had never considered her
slave’s presence when with the glorious young Apollo, her own sun
god.
Sooth to say, there was no such man as Maharbal in all the lands
of Carthagena or of Iberia. He was, indeed, a very Adonis for beauty,
with all the strength of a Hercules. It was no wonder that he was
beloved by maids and matrons alike, for in face, form, and
disposition he was in all points a man for a woman to worship.
The wretched Melania in her despair knew not what to do. When
nearly mad with thinking, she eventually sent a maiden with the letter
to Maharbal and Elissa when they were together. And then, leaving a
note in her apartment saying that she was departing for ever, and
that it would be useless to seek her, she fled from the town; walking
as one distraught, not knowing what she would do, but simply with
the idea of taking away her own life in some way. For, from whatever
aspect she looked at it, she could not face the situation. While
passing the guard house and crossing the bridge leading to the
mainland, she met many people who knew her, and who saluted her.
She looked at them vaguely without seeing them, and passed on.
They thought from her dazed expression that she had gone mad.
And so, in fact, the poor girl had in a way. Vaguely still, she
wandered on until she took a little by-road that led up into an
interminable cork and hazel forest, that covered the whole of the
mountain-side. As she was ascending the hill, she met a man whom
she had quite recently befriended, an old soldier who had had his leg
broken in an accident in the palace, and whom she had nursed. He
had gone to live on the mountain-side, where he made a living by
capturing, with the aid of his sons, the game which abounded. He
stopped her, and being a garrulous old man, forced her to speak to
him. He informed her that as evening was now coming on she must
not proceed further, for that she would be in danger of her life from
the wolves, bears, and wild boars with which the forest was filled.
“Wolves, bears, and wild boars! are there many?” she asked.
“The hill is full of them, dear lady Melania; therefore, to go further
to-night will be certain death.”
“Then, as certain death is what I seek, I shall proceed,” replied the
girl. “Take thou this piece of gold, and let me pass. Nay, here are
two, and some silver also—take them all.”
Pushing the old man aside, she passed on, and wandered away
into the recesses of the forest, until, long after having left all vestige
of a trail, she fell from sheer exhaustion beneath the shadow of a
spreading plane-tree, beside a little spring. After drinking a draught
of the cool, refreshing water, she laid herself down to await the
coming of the wild animals that were to solve the vexed problem of
her existence for her, and to terminate all her woes. But she
remained there that night, and also for the following three days,
gradually dying from starvation, and still no ferocious beast came by
to terminate her ills.