Patent ID: 6826530
Filing Date: 2004-11-30
Classification: A63F,G10L

Abstract:
A speech synthesizing method using word dictionaries, prosody dictionaries, and waveform dictionaries corresponding to a plurality of tasks of a speech synthesizing process in which at least one of speakers, emotion or situation when speeches are made, and contents of the speeches is different, comprising the steps of:switching among a word dictionary, a prosody dictionary, and a waveform dictionary according to designation of a task to be input together with a character string to be synthesized; and synthesizing a speech message corresponding to a character string to be synthesized by using the switched word dictionary, prosody dictionary, and waveform dictionary, each dictionary including: (a) a word dictionary including a number of words, each having at least one character, together with respective accent types, (b) a prosody dictionary including typical prosody model data in prosody model data indicating prosody of words in the word dictionary, and (c) a waveform dictionary including recorded speeches as speech data in synthesis units, the speech synthesizing process comprising the steps of: determining an accent type of a character string to be synthesized from the word dictionary; selecting prosody model data from the prosody dictionary based on the character string to be synthesized and the accent type; selecting waveform data corresponding to each character of the character string to be synthesized based on the selected prosody model data from the waveform dictionary; and connecting selected pieces of waveform data.