alexia
失読症
解説 Definition
alexia は、医学で「失読症」、つまり文字を読む能力が損なわれた状態を指す語です。視力そのものの問題ではなく、脳の損傷などによって読字が難しくなる場合に使われます。
An acquired neurological condition in which a person loses or has impaired ability to read, often after a stroke or other brain injury. It is not simply poor eyesight and does not by itself indicate reduced general intelligence.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
医学語として a-「ない」＋ギリシャ語系の lex-「語・読むこと」と捉え、「読字能力が失われた状態」と覚える。典型的には develop alexia after a stroke のように、脳損傷後の後天的な失読を表す。発達性の読みの困難を広く指す dyslexia や、視力低下そのものとは区別する。
Break alexia into a-, meaning “without,” and lex-, associated with words and reading. The useful memory image is a person who could read before a stroke but now cannot reliably recognize even familiar written words. Medical English often uses “develop alexia after a stroke,” emphasizing that the condition is typically acquired through brain damage rather than caused by poor eyesight or low intelligence. Contrast it with dyslexia, which commonly refers to a developmental difficulty in learning to read; alexia more specifically points to the loss or serious impairment of an established reading ability.
例文
The patient developed alexia after the stroke.
その患者は脳卒中の後に失読症を発症しました。
Alexia can make familiar words difficult to read.
失読症になると、よく知っている単語も読みづらくなることがあります。
The doctor explained that alexia affects reading, not general intelligence.
医師は、失読症は読字に影響するもので、知能全般の問題ではないと説明しました。
alexia の類義語・関連語
alexia の語源・成り立ち Etymology
ギリシャ語の否定接頭辞 a-（～なし）と lexis（言葉・読むこと）の合成語。lexis は legein（読む）に由来する。関連語: dyslexia（読字障害）、lexicon（辞書）。文字通り「読む能力がない」状態を指し、脳損傷などによる後天的な読字能力の喪失を表す医学用語。
Alexia is a modern medical formation from Greek elements: the privative prefix a-, meaning “without,” and léxis, meaning “speech,” “word,” or “expression.” Léxis belongs to the family of Greek légein, “to say” or “to speak,” a root also seen in lexicon. In medical usage, these elements were combined to name the absence or loss of reading ability, especially an acquired impairment resulting from damage to the brain.
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