CONTEXT SHARING FOR SIMILAR WORDS IN CONTEXT DEPENDENT HIDDEN MARKOV MODELS

A natural number recognition method and system that uses minimum classification error trained inter-word context dependent models of the head-body-tail type over a specific vocabulary. One part of the method and system allows recognition of spoken monetary amounts in financial transactions. A second part of the method and system allows recognition of numbers such as credit card or U.S. telephone numbers. A third part of the method and system allows recognition of natural language expressions of time, such as time of day, day of the week and date of the month for applications such as scheduling or schedule inquires. Even though limited natural language expressions are allowed, context sharing between similar sounds in the vocabulary within a head-body-tail model keeps storage and processing time requirements to manageable levels.