Patent ID: 7610201

Claim:
A method for synthesizing speech by a speech synthesizing apparatus, the method comprising: using a processor to perform the following: an obtaining step of obtaining a speech message, wherein resumption data is stored in association with the speech message; an outputting step of outputting synthesized speech corresponding to the speech message via the speech synthesizing apparatus; a suspending step of suspending the outputting of the synthesized speech corresponding to the speech message; a selecting step of selecting, based on the resumption data stored in association with the speech message whose outputting is suspended in the suspending step, a resumption manner from among a plurality of resumption manners, the plurality of resumption manners including at least 1) a manner in which the outputting of the synthesized speech is resumed from the beginning, 2) a manner in which a part of the synthesized speech which has not yet been output is output, and 3) a manner in which the outputting of the synthesized speech is not resumed; and a resuming step of resuming the outputting of the suspended synthesized speech via the speech synthesizing apparatus according to the selected manner.