Device for generating the audio information of a set of characters

• US 4,689,817 A
• Filed: 01/17/1986
• Issued: 08/25/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/1982
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Kroon, Johannes N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaw, Gareth D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLS, JOHN G
• Application Number:
  US06/821,112
• Time in Patent Office: 585 Days
• Field of Search: 381/51-53, 364/513.5
• US Class Current: 704/260
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems

Abstract

A device for generating the audio information of a set of characters in which some characters are intoned or pronounced with a different voice character. The device includes means for making a distinction between a capital letter and a small letter presented. For a capital letter character, a speech pattern is formed in which the pitch or the voice character is modified, while maintaining their identity, with respect to a speech pattern for a small letter of the same character. The device also includes means for determining the position of a letter, preferably the last letter, of a word composed of characters presented and for forming a speech pattern for the relevant letter in which the pitch or the voice character is modified while the identity is maintained.

Claims

1. A microprocessor controlled speech synthesizer for generating the audio information of a set of characters which includes a first subset of lower case letters and a second subset of upper case capital letters so that the operator can audibly distinguish between upper and lower case letters from an external input, said synthesizer comprising;

a microprocessor unit connected to a first memory for the storage of speech data and to a second memory for the storage of externally originated input characters, said microprocessor unit comprising control means responsive to said speech data from the first memory for forming a speech pattern corresponding to said input characters;

a speech generator connected to said first memory and controlled by the control means of said microprocessor for producing audio signals representing said set of characters;

said microprocessor unit further comprising a character recognition means connected to said first and second memories and to said speech generator for recognizing from the externally originated input characters those characters which belong to said second subset of upper case capital letters and for introducing a first modification in the speech pattern for said characters belonging to the second subset;

said first modification comprising a changing of at least one pitch component or a changing of a voice characterizing component of the speech pattern while maintaining the identity of the second subset of upper case capital letters;

said microprocessor further comprising a position determining means for determing the position of at least one letter of a word made up of characters presented and for introducing a second modification in the speech pattern for said letter while maintaining its identity, said second modification comprising a modification of a pitch component and/or a voice characterizing component of the speech pattern.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said first modification of a pitch component of the speech pattern produces a higher pitch with respect to a mean pitch component for the characters of the first sub-set.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said first modification of a pitch component of the speech pattern comprises a pitch rise within the duration of said speech pattern with respect to a mean pitch component for the characters of the first sub-set.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said first modification of the voice-characterizing component of the speech pattern comprises a shift of the formants with respect to the formant representation for the characters of the first sub-set.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said one letter is the last letter of a word composed of characters presented.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said position determining means are actuable by a presented space character and/or a punctuation mark character associated with a part of a sentence.

7. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said second modification of a pitch component of the speech pattern comprises a pitch decrease within the duration of the speech pattern with respect to a mean pitch component of the speech pattern.

8. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said second modification of a pitch component of the speech pattern comprises a lower pitch with respect to a mean pitch component of the speech pattern.

9. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said second modification of the voicecharacterizing component of the speech pattern consists of a shift of the formants with respect to the representation of formants of the speech pattern.

10. A device as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the modification of the pitch component is within a range of from 1/4 to 1.5 octaves.

11. A typewriter comprising a keyboard having an output connected to a device as claimed in claim 1.