To take a simple example, the word "horse" can be discussed or pondered; all that is needed for this is an auditory structure (the sound of the word) and its visual structure (representing its orthographic, written form), both of which are matched up with its meaning. consisting of metalinguistic concepts such as word, syllable, noun, definition and the like. These concepts are required for any analytic thinking about language and may vary widely in degree and complexity, depending on an individual's metalinguistic sophistication. In any case, the linguistic systems are not directly implicated in any explicit discussion (or explicit thinking) about what is actually a linguistic form. They are simply activated at lower levels to support the ongoing thought processes (Sharwood Smith, 2020Sharwood Smith, M. (first published online 2020). The cognitive status of metalinguistic knowledge in speakers of one or more languages. Bilingualism: Language & Cognition. doi.org/10.1017/S1366728920000371.).
