When it comes to speaking and speech comprehension, the human brain works as a fully functioning little system which chooses the best match between a word and a speech signal.
The process starts with the speech signal identification and its transformation into an abstract representation. Speech sounds are perceived as phonemes, described as the smallest unit of meaning. These are influenced both by acoustic features, and word and sentence context. Word identification and conceptual message represent the ending point of speech comprehension and the starting point of speech production.
How does our brain choose the correct word among all those that are available in our memory? Gareth Gaskell provides the answer to that in the video below.
Sources
Wikibooks. 2016. Neurocognition of Languages / Speech Comprehension and Speech Production. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Neurocognition_of_Language/Speech_Comprehension_and_Speech_Production. [Accessed 4 August 2020].
Written by Lara Karlović, a digital marketing enthusiast with experience in social media management, SEO content writing and optimization and content marketing.