Acquiring and implementing phonetic knowledge

Proper early acquisition of speech and language appears to be a necessary process to reach mature speech communication. In modelling the process of natural (and pathological) speech production and speech perception, we frequently concentrate on specific aspects of phonetic knowledge. But also to improve the performance of speech technological systems, an intelligent interpretation of the abundant, but sometimes also incomplete or absent, phonetic information is highly advisable. This keynote will use the above framework to discuss the progress made in speech science and technology over the past 30 years.