Generating profiles of words

• US 8,359,200 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2011
• Issued: 01/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daybreak Game Company, LLC (Enad Global 7 AB)
• Original Assignee: Sony Online Entertainment LLC (Enad Global 7 AB)
• Inventors: McCuller, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Opsasnick, Michael N
• Application Number:
  US13/241,057
• Publication Number:
  US 20120007793A1
• Time in Patent Office: 488 Days
• Field of Search: 704/254
• US Class Current: 704/254
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/033 Voice editing, e.g. manipulating the voice of the synthesiser
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/187 Phonemic context, e.g. pronunciation rules, phonotactical constraints or phoneme n-grams

Abstract

Generating a profile of a word, including: receiving the word including at least one phoneme; determining the at least one phoneme in the word; selecting at least one characteristic for each of the determined at least one phoneme in the word using a dictionary of sound symbolism rules; and generating the profile of the word by combining all of the selected at least one characteristic for the at least one phoneme.

Claims

1. A method of generating a profile of a word, the method comprising:

receiving the word including at least one phoneme;

determining the at least one phoneme in the word;

selecting at least one characteristic for each of the determined at least one phoneme in the word using a dictionary of sound symbolism rules;

generating the profile of the word by combining all of the selected at least one characteristic for the at least one phoneme;

receiving language information for the word;

evaluating the profile of the word and the language information to produce a first scale; and

generating an estimate of whether the word would be received negatively in various languages, countries, and cultures using the first scale.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one characteristic for each of the determined at least one phoneme in the word comprises determining a position of said each phoneme within a scale of phonemes for said each characteristic.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein combining all of the selected at least one characteristic for the at least one phoneme comprises:

scaling each of the at least one characteristic into a value; and

averaging the value of all of the selected at least one characteristic for the at least one phoneme.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein the word is a string of text, and

wherein evaluating the profile of the word comprises determining a tone of the string of text.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the profile of the word comprises providing a profile of portions of the word over time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein providing a profile of portions of the word over time comprises providing which parts of the word address a topic using a second scale on a linear graph of the word.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each characteristic of the selected at least one characteristic includes a position of said each phoneme in an ordered list of phonemes for said each characteristic.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the word is a name for a character, creature, or item in a computer game.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the profile of the word is a characteristic that is suggestive of the name for the character, creature, or item in the computer game.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for generating a profile of a word, the program comprising executable instructions that cause a computer to:

receive the word including at least one phoneme;

determine the at least one phoneme in the word;

select at least one characteristic for each of the determined at least one phoneme in the word using a dictionary of sound symbolism rules;

generate the profile of the word by combining all of the selected at least one characteristic for the at least one phoneme;

receive language information for the word;

evaluate the profile of the word and the language information to produce a first scale; and

generate an estimate of whether the word would be received negatively in various languages, countries, and cultures using the first scale.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the word is a name for a character, creature, or item in a computer game.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the profile of the word is a characteristic that is suggestive of the name for the character, creature, or item in the computer game.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein executable instructions that cause a computer to evaluate the profile of the word comprises executable instructions that cause a computer to provide a profile of portions of the word over time.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein executable instructions that cause a computer to provide a profile of portions of the word over time comprises executable instructions that cause a computer to provide which parts of the word address a topic using a second scale on a linear graph of the word.