A new paradigm that may be appropriate for uncovering speech perceptual codes is described. Illusory words (e.g. /bi u/) are detected by blending two dichotic stimuli (e.g. /bit -k u/). According to the logic of illusory conjunctions (Treisman & Schmidt, 1982), the speech unit involved in such illusions must be separately registered as an independent entity in the course of the recognition process. In addition, the design allows for comparison of different units by the manipulation of the distribution of information between the two inputs (e.g. for initial consonant, /ki u-b t /; for first vowel, /b u-kit /).