The qualitative auditory impression cannot be inferred from physiological (articu-latory), physical (acoustic) and neurophysical data. Alternative to the established phonetic parameters an effort will be made to make GeroldUngeheuer’s attempt at aligning with the evidence of holistic psychology and gestalt psychology fruitful for a qualitative description of linguistic sound units. Uncovering gestalt principles in word detection leads via the concept of the sound face (“Klanggesicht”, Karl Bühler) to the phenomena of iconic modeling of the sign (Heinz Werner).