Language processing refers to the way human beings process speech or writing and understand it as language. Most recent theories back the idea that this process is made completely by and inside the brain.

Spoken language

Acoustic stimuli are received by the auditive organ and are converted to bioelectric signals on the organ of Corti. These electric impulses are then transported through scarpa's ganglion (vestibulocochlear nerve) to the primary auditory cortex, on both hemispheres. Each hemisphere treats it differenty, nevertheless: while the left side recognizes distinctive parts such as phonemes, the right side takes over prosodic characteristics and melodic information. A cross section of the cochlea illustrating the Organ of Corti. ... The vestibulocochlear nerve is the eighth of twelve cranial nerves and also known as the auditory nerve. ... The primary auditory cortex the region of the brain which is responsible for processing of auditory (sound) information. ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ... Prosody may mean several things: Prosody consists of distinctive variations of stress, tone, and timing in spoken language. ...

The signal is then transported to Wernicke's area on the left hemisphere (the information that was being processed on the right hemisphere is able to cross through inter-hemispheric axons), where the already noted analysis takes part. Wernickes area is a part of the human brain which forms part of the cortex, on the left posterior section of the superior temporal gyrus, posterior to the primary auditory cortex, on the temporo-parietal junction (part of the brain where the temporal lobe and parietal lobe meet). ... An axon, or nerve fibre, is a long slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, which conducts electrical impulses away from the neurons cell body or soma. ...

From this area, the signal is taken to Broca's area through what is called the arcuate fasciculus. Broca's area is in charge of interpreting the information provided by Wernicke's area (using the pars triangularis) and transmitting information to the closely located motor-related areas of the brain for production of speech (relying on the pars opercularis). Brocas area is the section of the human brain (in the opercular and triangular sections of the inferior frontal gyrus of the frontal lobe of the cortex) which is involved in language processing, speech production and comprehension. ... The arcuate fasciculus (literally the curved bundle) is the neural pathway connecting the posterior part of the temporoparietal junction with the frontal cortex in the brain. ... The Pars Opercularis is part of the inferior frontal gyrus and is part of the mirror neurons. ...

Written language

Written language works in a fairly similar way, only using the primary visual cortex instead of the auditory. Brodmann area 17 (primary visual cortex) is shown in red in this image which also shows area 18 (orange) and 19 (yellow) The primary visual cortex (usually called V1) is the most well-studied visual area in the brain. ...