The architecture of speech production and the role of the phoneme in speech processing

Abstract

Speech production has been studied within a number of traditions including linguistics, psycholinguistics, motor control, neuropsychology and neuroscience. These traditions have had limited interaction, ostensibly because they target different levels of speech production or different dimensions such as representation, processing or implementation. However, closer examination of reveals a substantial convergence of ideas across the traditions and recent proposals have suggested that an integrated approach may help move the field forward. The present article reviews one such attempt at integration, the state feedback control (SFC) model and its descendent, the hierarchical SFC model. Also considered is how phoneme-level representations might fit in the context of the model.

Keywords:

• speech production
• neuroscience
• sensorimotor
• phonology

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by a grant [DC009659] from the National Institutes of Health.

Notes

1. By “sensory feedback” I mean any kind of input to the motor system from sensory systems. By “overt feedback” or “external feedback” I refer to feedback on the consequences of actions that is detected using peripheral sensory receptors. By “internal feedback” or “internal sensory feedback” I refer to sensory-to-motor inputs derived from predicted rather than overt sensory feedback. Thus, sensory feedback can be either internally or externally derived.