What is the most important feature of language comprehension-again

We thought about this same question at the beginning of the year, and I thought I had a pretty clear understanding of what makes us understand each other. I thought that sound was the most important feature of language comprehension. Now, I think that it's a lot harder for me to pinpoint which aspect of language I think is the most significant in language comprehension. Although, I think I've come to the conclusion that vocabulary is a very significant factor most of the time.

As we have learned in class, there are so many different kinds of accents within English, and somehow we still understand each other. It doesn't really matter whether or not that person is a native speaker; we still understand them even if we can tell that they don't pronounce English like we do. The way different people pronounce language comes from the different sounds they make to form the word. People can use different sounds in the same word, and as I've come to realize, I can still understand, it just takes a bit of getting used to.

Syntax, part of the way in which we structure words grammatically, seemed to be of slight importance to me before. Now when I think more deeply about it, I realize that I can understand people even if they have incorrect English syntax. For example, if someone says "come eat you here", I could still understand that as someone wanting me to eat with them, even though the syntax is completely off. 

The last aspect of language is vocabulary, which I have come to realize is very important in understanding. If one does not know the words in a language, they cannot comprehend what another person is saying. Let's suppose that I could pronounce all the sounds in French and I understood the way in which the syntax works because it's like Spanish. However, I do not know much French vocabulary whatsoever. I would have a very difficult time understanding what I would be able to read and pronounce in French, and I wouldn't be able to understand someone else either. 

While I now think that vocabulary is very important in language comprehension, I still think that the others have a big impact on comprehension as well. Maybe it is all of these that are necessary in language comprehension, maybe it is certain combination of two. Overall, syntax, sound and vocabulary seem like significant aspects of language depending on the context. But overall, it seems that vocabulary is more significant than the other two many times. 

This exercise has made me realize the complexity of language and that it is not just black and white, it changes with time.