Speech Mechanisms

the conventional term for the system of psychophysiological prerequisites that enable a human being to make meaningful utterances and to understand another’s speech.

Speech mechanisms are based on physiological systems that develop in man as a result of object-directed activity and association with other people, and that are impossible without certain innate abilities and skills (for example, proper coordination of articulation, syllable-formation, and correct breathing). The systemic localization of speech functions in the cerebral cortex makes possible the different psychophysiological conditionality for the same (as regards linguistic structure) speech utterances. Speech mechanisms are studied by the physiology and psychology of speech; and, in terms of their linguistic structure of utterances, they are studied by psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics.