Speech Synthesis Device and Method
First Claim
1. A speech synthesis device which synthesizes a speech having a desired voice characteristic, said device comprising:
- a speech element storage unit operable to store speech elements of plural voice characteristics;
a target element information generation unit operable to generate speech element information corresponding to language information, based on the language information including phoneme information;
an element selection unit operable to select, from said speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the speech element information;
a voice characteristics designation unit operable to accept a designation regarding a voice characteristic of a synthesized speech;
a voice characteristics transformation unit operable to transform the speech element sequence selected by said element selection unit into a speech element sequence of the voice characteristic accepted by said voice characteristics designation unit;
a distortion determination unit operable to determine a distortion between the speech element sequence transformed by said voice characteristics transformation unit and the speech element sequence before the transformation; and
a target element information correction unit operable to correct the speech element information generated by said target element information generation unit to speech element information corresponding to the speech element sequence transformed by said voice characteristics transformation unit, in the case where said distortion determination unit determines that the transformed speech element sequence is distorted, wherein said element selection unit is operable to select, from said speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the corrected speech element information, in the case where said target element information correction unit has corrected the speech element information.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A speech synthesis device, in which the sound quality is not significantly degraded when generating a synthesized sound, includes a target element information generation unit (102), an element database (103), an element selection unit (104), a voice characteristics designation unit (105), a voice characteristics transformation unit (106), a distortion determination unit (108), and a target element information correction unit (109). When the speech element sequence transformed by the voice characteristics transformation unit (106) is determined as distorted by the distortion determination unit (108), the target element information correction unit (109) corrects the speech element information generated by the target element information generation unit (102) to the speech element information of the transformed voice characteristic, and the element selection unit (104) reselects a speech element sequence. Therefore, the synthesized sound of the voice characteristic designated by the voice characteristics designation unit (105) is generated without degrading the sound quality of the synthesized sound.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A speech synthesis device which synthesizes a speech having a desired voice characteristic, said device comprising:
-
a speech element storage unit operable to store speech elements of plural voice characteristics;
a target element information generation unit operable to generate speech element information corresponding to language information, based on the language information including phoneme information;
an element selection unit operable to select, from said speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the speech element information;
a voice characteristics designation unit operable to accept a designation regarding a voice characteristic of a synthesized speech;
a voice characteristics transformation unit operable to transform the speech element sequence selected by said element selection unit into a speech element sequence of the voice characteristic accepted by said voice characteristics designation unit;
a distortion determination unit operable to determine a distortion between the speech element sequence transformed by said voice characteristics transformation unit and the speech element sequence before the transformation; and
a target element information correction unit operable to correct the speech element information generated by said target element information generation unit to speech element information corresponding to the speech element sequence transformed by said voice characteristics transformation unit, in the case where said distortion determination unit determines that the transformed speech element sequence is distorted, wherein said element selection unit is operable to select, from said speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the corrected speech element information, in the case where said target element information correction unit has corrected the speech element information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A speech synthesis method for use in a speech synthesis device including a speech element storage unit for storing speech elements of plural voice characteristics, said method comprising:
-
a target element information generation step of generating speech element information corresponding to language information, based on the language information including phoneme information;
an element selection step of selecting, from the speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the speech element information;
a voice characteristics designation step of accepting a designation regarding a voice characteristic of a synthesized speech;
a voice characteristics transformation step of transforming the speech element sequence selected in said element selection step into a speech element sequence of the voice characteristic accepted in said voice characteristics designation step;
a distortion determination step of determining a distortion between the speech element sequence transformed in said voice characteristics transformation step and the speech element sequence before the translation; and
a target element information correction step of correcting the speech element information generated in said target element information generation step to speech element information corresponding to the speech element sequence transformed in said voice characteristics transformation step, in the case where it is determined that the transformed speech element sequence is distorted in said distortion determination step, wherein in said element selection step, a speech element sequence corresponding to the corrected speech element information is selected from the speech element storage unit in the case where the speech element information has been corrected in said target element information correction step.
-
-
15. A program for causing a computer to function as a speech synthesis device,
wherein the computer includes a speech element storage unit for storing speech elements of plural voice characteristics, and said program causing a computer to function as: -
a target element information generation unit operable to generate speech element information corresponding to language information, based on the language information including phoneme information;
an element selection unit operable to select, from said speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the speech element information;
a voice characteristics designation unit operable to accept a designation regarding a voice characteristic of a synthesized speech;
a voice characteristics transformation unit operable to transform the speech element sequence selected by said element selection unit into a speech element sequence of the voice characteristic accepted by said voice characteristics designation unit;
a distortion determination unit operable to determine a distortion between the speech element sequence transformed by said voice characteristics transformation unit and the speech element sequence before the transformation; and
a target element information correction unit operable to correct the speech element information generated by said target element information generation unit to speech element information corresponding to the speech element sequence transformed by said voice characteristics transformation unit, in the case where said distortion determination unit determines that the transformed speech element sequence is distorted, wherein said element selection unit is operable to select, from said speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the corrected speech element information, in the case where said target element information correction unit has corrected the speech element information.
-
-
16. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program executed by a computer is recorded,
wherein the computer includes a speech element storage unit for storing speech elements of plural voice characteristics, and the program causing a computer to function as: -
a target element information generation unit operable to generate speech element information corresponding to language information, based on the language information including phoneme information;
an element selection unit operable to select, from said speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the speech element information;
a voice characteristics designation unit operable to accept a designation regarding a voice characteristic of a synthesized speech;
a voice characteristics transformation unit operable to transform the speech element sequence selected by said element selection unit into a speech element sequence of the voice characteristic accepted by said voice characteristics designation unit;
a distortion determination unit operable to determine a distortion between the speech element sequence transformed by said voice characteristics transformation unit and the speech element sequence before the transformation; and
a target element information correction unit operable to correct the speech element information generated by said target element information generation unit to speech element information corresponding to the speech element sequence transformed by said voice characteristics transformation unit, in the case where said distortion determination unit determines that the transformed speech element sequence is distorted, wherein said element selection unit is operable to select, from said speech element storage unit, a speech element sequence corresponding to the corrected speech element information, in the case where said target element information correction unit has corrected the speech element information.
-
Specification