Brain processing of language

[Ken Brown]

Martin Hoekstra raised some questions about written and spoken language.

To be completely anecdotal & introspective here, I know that I can process
written language much faster than spoken. Orders of magnitude faster.

When I read there I do not have a simulated voice in my mind. If I  did it
couldn't keep up with the speed at which I read. No sub-vocalisation seems to
be neccessary for normal comprehension.

I assume that this is a usual experience of reading. A reading speed of, say,
400 words a minute is quite common without any special speed-reading
techniques. Nobody speaks at anything like that speed.