Role of Synthetic Speech in Speech Research
Walter Lawrence · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1964
The Parametric Artificial Talking Device is described, and the purposes for which it was designed and for which it may be used are discussed. Human speech may be studied either as a sequence of articulatory events, or as an acoustic disturbance freely propagating through air, or as an auditory sensation. The concepts underlying the design of the artificial talking device serve to unify and correlate these three aspects of speech. The parametric signals used for controlling the device constitute a precisely defined descriptive terminology for the specification of speech utterances. This is of especial value in interdisciplinary discussions, and by this means phoneticians, psychologists, speech and hearing pathologists, and communication engineers can find a common language for talking about speech. Machines of the type considered were first conceived as part of a speech-band-width-compression system; the problems raised in the optimum design of such a system provide a motivation for the investigation of many diverse aspects of speech, and, hence, contribute to the establishment of a unified and inclusive science of speech.