ABSTRACT
An underlying assumption in the study of speech processes is that it involves mappings of human language in which mental activities play a predominant part. From this vantage point, speech communication is seen as a goal-directed activity, in which the situation, knowledge of the world, and the intentions of speaker and listener all contribute in shaping the acoustic signal of speech. The factor "meaning" may have to be considered if we ultimately can account for two processes involved in speech, invariance and variability. A further conclusion to be drawn is that the relation between mental constructs, corresponding to linguistic structures, and acoustic shapes is analogous to the phenomenon described in the literature on gestalt psychology in which invariance can be maintained under numerous transformations.
