Patent ID: 7062438

Claim:
A speech synthesis method comprising: a separating step of separating, from an input text, a singing data portion specified by a singing tag and a text portion; a singing metrical data forming step of forming singing metrical data from said singing data, said singing metrical data expresses parameters of a lyric; a speech symbol sequence forming step of forming a speech symbol sequence for said text portion; a metrical data forming step of forming metrical data from said speech symbol sequence, said metrical data expresses parameters of a speech signal sequence; a natural metrical data selecting step of analyzing said text portion and selecting, if preset words or sentences exist in said text portion, natural metrical data associated with said preset words or sentences, extracted in advance from the uttered speech of a human being, from a storage means; and a speech synthesis step of synthesizing the speech based on said singing metrical data, said natural metrical data or said metrical data; wherein said speech symbol sequence is formed for the section of the text portion other than said preset words or sentences, wherein the natural metrical data includes data about a pitch period, a pitch duration, and a pitch volume registered in a natural metrical dictionary stored in the storage means.