Method and system for syllable parsing

• US 6,188,984 B1
• Filed: 11/17/1998
• Issued: 02/13/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fonix Corp.
• Original Assignee: Fonix Corp.
• Inventors: Manwaring, Michael E., McDaniel, Steven F., Felix, Kara, Blackburn, Starla, Wallentine, Melissa
• Primary Examiner(s): Dorvil, Richemond
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nolan, Daniel A
• Application Number:
  US09/193,722
• Time in Patent Office: 819 Days
• Field of Search: 704/258, 704/260, 704/231, 704/200, 704/254, 704/251
• US Class Current: 704/260
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/08 Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination

Abstract

A method and system consistent with the present invention parses text into syllables. The text is converted into a sequence of “phonemes,” basic units of pronounceable and audible speech, divided by syllables. The text may be converted into phonemes using a phonetic dictionary, and the phonemes transformed into another phoneme sequence using a set of transformation rules that are ranked for evaluation to determine the syllable barriers.

Claims

1. A method for parsing syllables in a data processor according to transformation rules, comprising the steps of:

receiving a text string;

converting the text string into a first phoneme sequence;

transforming the first phoneme sequence into a second sequence of phonemes according to the transformation rules;

forming a ranking of the phonemes of the second phoneme sequence according to predetermined criteria; and

parsing the second phoneme sequence into syllables using the ranking.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transforming step includes the step of applying one or more of the following transformation rules:

stops and closures following quiet are invalid;

double stops drop first release and second closure;

insert quiet before syllabic nasals and liquids;

insert glide or glottal stop between two vowels;

insert quiet between illegal consonant pairs;

insert a glide R between vowel r and vowels;

stops consist of a closure and release;

or

voiced continuants geminate at peaks.

3. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of:

storing the transformation rules in a substitution table; and

generating the second phoneme sequence using the substitution table.

4. A data processing system for parsing syllables, comprising:

a phonetic converter subsystem that receives a text string and converts the text string into a first phoneme sequence;

a phonetic transformer that receives and applies transformation rules to the first phoneme sequence to form a second sequence and phonemes;

an evaluator that assigns rankings to the phonemes in the second phoneme sequence according to predetermined criteria; and

a syllable parser that receives the second phoneme sequence and uses the rankings to parse the phonemes in the second sequence into syllables.

5. The data processing system of claim 4, wherein the phonetic transformer includes a substitution table.

6. The data processing system of claim 4, wherein the phonetic converter subsystem includes a phonetic dictionary.

7. A data processing system for parsing syllables according to transformation rules, comprising:

means for converting text into a first phoneme sequence;

means for transforming the first phoneme sequence into a second sequence of phonemes according to the transformation rules;

means for forming a ranking of the phonemes in the second phoneme sequence according to predetermined criteria; and

means for parsing the second phoneme sequence using the ranking.

8. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for performing by a processor a method for parsing syllables according to transformation rules, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a text string;

converting the text string into a first phoneme sequence;

transforming the first phoneme sequence into a second sequence of phonemes according to the transformation rules;

forming a ranking of the phonemes of the second phoneme sequence according to predetermined criteria; and

parsing the second phoneme sequence into syllables using the ranking.