1. Method for recognizing speech, wherein for the process of recognition a current acoustic model (CAM) based on a set of model function mixtures (MFMl,..., MFMn) is used and wherein said current acoustic model (CAM) is adapted during the recognition process by changing at least in part the contributions of model function mixture components (MFM jk ) of model function mixtures (MFMj) based on at least one recognition result already obtained, characterized in that the process of recognition is started using a starting acoustic model (SAM) as said current acoustic model (CAM), after given numbers of performed recognition steps and/or obtained recognition results a modified acoustic model (MAM) is generated based on said current acoustic model (CAM) by cancelling model function mixture components (MFM jk ) having negligible contributions with respect to at least given numbers of recognition results already obtained, and the process of recognition is continued using said modified acoustic model (MAM) as said current acoustic model (CAM) in each case.