SPEECH ENDPOINT DETECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS AND CONTINUOUS SPEECH RECOGNITION METHOD AND APPARATUS

A speech endpoint detection unit determines that a first condition is met when a matching score of a partial sentence accepted by a grammatical rule unit is the highest of all partial sentences, and that a second condition is met when a duration time of input speech determined to coincide with a silent standard pattern is longer than a predetermined time. A speech endpoint is determined when the first and second conditions are both met and a speech endpoint detection signal is sent to a word prediction unit and a recognition result output unit. By requiring that both first and second conditions be met, a speech endpoint can correctly be detected even when a long silent period is present in the course of a sentence.