Patent ID: 7472061

Claim:
A method for generating base forms for non-native language in a speech-based system trained for processing a native language, the method comprising: receiving input textual data containing both native language and non-native language words; identifying the native language and non-native language words within the textual data; generating a native phonetic transcription of the native language word using phonetic units of the native language; generating a non-native phonetic transcription of the non-native language word using phonetic units of the non-native language; generating a native pronunciation of the non-native language word using phonetic units of the native language by mapping the phonetic units of the non-native phonetic transcription to acoustically similar phonetic units of the native language; and storing the input textual data with the corresponding native phonetic transcription of the native language word and the mapped native pronunciation of the non-native language word in a native phonetic lexicon.