A biologically inspired neural model of speech processing is introduced, comprising speech production, speech perception and speech acquisition.
The neural model of speech processing introduces a concept for interfacing central neural maps, representing semantic, phonological, and phonentic knowledge.
The neural representation of semantic features results from the ordering of lexical items at the level of the semantic map.
The neural representation of phonetic-phonological features results from the ordering of syllables at the level of the sensorimotor phoentic neural map.
Numerical simulations of speech acquisition processes allow a testing of assumptions concerning the emergence of phonetic–phonological features.