Method and apparatus for speech synthesis based on prosodic analysis

TLDR: A system for synthesizing a speech signal from strings of words, which are themselves strings of characters, includes a memory in which predetermined syntax tags are stored in association with entered words and phonetic transcriptions are storedIn association with the syntax tags.

Abstract: A system for synthesizing a speech signal from strings of words, which are themselves strings of characters, includes a memory in which predetermined syntax tags are stored in association with entered words and phonetic transcriptions are stored in association with the syntax tags. A parser accesses the memory and groups the syntax tags of the entered words into phrases according to a first set of predetermined grammatical rules relating the syntax tags to one another. The parser also verifies the conformance of sequences of the phrases to a second set of predetermined grammatical rules relating the phrases to one another. The system retrieves the phonetic transcriptions associated with the syntax tags that were grouped into phrases conforming to the second set of rules, and also translates predetermined strings of characters into words. The system generates strings of phonetic transcriptions and prosody markers corresponding to respective strings of the words, and adds markers for rhythm and stress to the strings, which are then converted into data arrays having prosody information on a diphone-by-diphone basis. Predetermined diphone waveforms are retrieved from memory that correspond to the entered words, and these retrieved waveforms are adjusted based on the prosody information in the arrays. The adjusted diphone waveforms, which may also be adjusted for coarticulation, are then concatenated to form the speech signal. Methods in a digital computer are also disclosed.