LARGE-VOCABULARY SPEECH RECOGNITION USING AN INTEGRATED SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC STATISTICAL LANGUAGE MODEL

Methods and apparatus for performing large-vocabulary speech recognition employing an integrated syntactic and semantic statistical language model. In an exemplary embodiment, a stochastic language model is developed using a hybrid paradigm in which latent semantic analysis is combined with, and subordinated to, a conventional n-gram paradigm. The hybrid paradigm provides an estimate of the likelihood that a particular word, chosen from an underlying vocabulary will occur given a prevailing contextual history. The estimate is computed as a conditional probability that a word will occur given an "integrated" history combining an n-word, syntactic-type history with a semantic-type history based on a much larger contextual framework. Thus, the exemplary embodiment seamlessly blends local language structures with global usage patterns to provide, in a single language model, the proficiency of a short-horizon, syntactic model with the large-span effectiveness of semantic analysis.