Lexical Access in Speech Production (Cognition S.)

How do we access words when we speak? Normally we talk at a rate of about two to three words or ten to fifteen speech sounds per second. We select these from a mental lexicon that probably contains tens of thousands of items and also generate an articulatory shape for each word and for the utterance as a whole. The authors of this book provide an analysis of the cognitive mechanisms that are involved in this skill. After an introductory chapter by Levelt, the first part of the book deals with lexical selection - the problem of how we choose the appropriate word, given a concept that we intend to express. Authors consider the relation between conceptual and lexical representations, in particular the issue of compositionality and the extensive experimental research in picture-naming; they also offer a non-compositional network model of lexical selection and a critical review of aphasic disorders of lexical selection. The next part of the book examines the construction of word form. Authors review the vast literature on spoonerisms and new experimental evidence for the specific role of work onset in the phonological build-up of a word. They consider aphasic disorders of phonological encoding from the perspective of normal processing theories. The concluding chapter looks at potential interactions between lexical selection and phonological encoding and adduces new evidence for the existence of a buffering device that mediates between the two. This book aims to be a comprehensive review of our new knowledge of how the mind and brain generate words when we talk, including theory and research. It covers both lexical and phonological aspects, offers a new hypothesis about their integration and draws together research on speech production in both normal and aphasic populations.