SYNTHESIS-BASED SPEECH TRAINING SYSTEM

This invention includes a speech training system that allows a student to enter any utterance to be learned and have the articulatory model movements required to produce the utterance displayed on a CRT screen. The system accepts a typed utterance, breaking it down into a set of phonemes. The set of phonemes is sent to a synthesizer, which produces a set of parameters indicating the acoustic characteristics of the utterance. The acoustic parameters are converted into articulatory parameters emphasizing the frequency, nasality, and tongue-palate contact required to produce the typed utterance. The articulatory parameters are displayed on the CRT screen. The acoustic parameters are also sent to a formant synthesizer which converts the parameters into speech output. The system measures a student's production and then evaluates the student's production against the parameters of the typed utterance for its similarity. Feedback on the similarity is displayed on the CRT screen.