Phonological encoding in speech production

Language production comprises conceptual, grammatical, and word form encoding as well as articulation. This paper focuses on word form or phonological encoding. Phonological encoding in speech production can be subdivided into a number of sub-processes such as segmental, metrical, and syllabic encoding. Each of these processes is briefly described and illustrated with examples from my own research. Special attention is paid to time course issues introducing behavioural and electrophysiological research methods such as LRPs and ERPs. It is concluded that phonological encoding is an incremental planning process taking into account segmental, metrical, and syllabic encoding. Models of spoken language production Models of speech production (e.g., Caramazza, 1997; Dell, 1986, 1988; Fromkin, 1971; Garrett, 1975; Levelt, 1989; Levelt, Roelofs, and Meyer, 1999) assume that the generation of a spoken utterance involves several processes, such as conceptual preparation, lexical access, word form encoding, and articulation. Word form encoding or phonological encoding can be further divided into a number of processes (see Figure 1). Levelt et al. (1999) presented one of the most fine-grained models of phonological encoding to date (see also Dell, 1986, 1988). According to this model, phonological encoding can start after the word form (e.g., table /tΕΙb↔l/) of a lexical item has been accessed in the mental lexicon. First, the phonological encoding system must retrieve the corresponding segments and the metrical frame of a word form. According to Levelt et al. (1999), segmental and metrical retrieval are assumed to run in parallel. During segmental retrieval the ordered set of segments (phonemes) of a word form are retrieved (e.g., /t/, /ΕΙ/, /b/, /↔/, /l/), while during metrical retrieval the metrical frame of a word is retrieved, which consists at least of the number of syllables and the location of the lexical stress (e.g., for TAble – capital letters mark stressed syllables – this would be a frame consisting of two syllables the first of which is stressed).