ABSTRACT

In this chapter we present a neurophonetic perspective on how phonological representations transform into speech movements during verbal communication. Our “neurophonetic view” approaches speech production from its bottom end, not from the top, and the empirical evidence presented here will predominantly relate to neurologic conditions and brain imaging work. As a consequence, we consider phonological and phonetic processes to be constrained by the properties of the vocal tract motor system, on the one hand, and the auditory system, on the other. We start out by describing some crucial elements of a tripartite model of normal and impaired spoken language production, and then sketch the representations operating at each processing stage. In the last section of this chapter, we will delineate the neuroanatomic basis of speech production, from motor execution processes up to the level of cortical auditory-somatosensory-motor integration, with a focus on properties fundamental to the emergence of phonological structure.