A series of tests for understanding spoken language was administered to 138 aphasic patients. All patients made errors. All 31 patients who did not recover functional speech made errors pointing to common objects (or pictures) named by the examiner. Of the 107 patients who recovered functional speech, only 4 made errors on this item. It therefore appears to have considerable prognostic value. From detailed study of the language behavior of 15 patients in the latter group, it appeared that the basic disability experienced was impairment of ability to retain and evoke sound sequences utilized in language, which might be considered impairment of re-auditorization. This condition appears reversible to a considerable degree. Other aphasic difficulties such as impairment in articulating, word finding, expressing ideas, and some difficulties encountered in reading and writing can be shown to be secondary to impairment of reauditorization.