The speech sounds known as explosives and spirants are demonstrated to be primitive sounds heavily cathected with aggression. They are prominent in the ordinal (auditory) aspects of words that have their inception in the pregenital period, and are less heavily cathected than the visual aspects of words that are to a greater extent the product of intellection.

In regressive states the visual aspects of words tend to become less employed than the ordinal which again come to the fore. The temporary muteness in severely regressed patients appears to represent an effort to control the expression of affect through this route, as does the use of the largely intellectual (visual) aspect of words used by obsessive-compulsive patients.