System and method for generalized preselection for unit selection synthesis
View Patent ↗Disclosed herein are systems, computer-implemented methods, and computer-readable storage media for unit selection synthesis. The method causes a computing device to add a supplemental phoneset to a speech synthesizer front end having an existing phoneset, modify a unit preselection process based on the supplemental phoneset, preselect units from the supplemental phoneset and the existing phoneset based on the modified unit preselection process, and generate speech based on the preselected units. The supplemental phoneset can be a variation of the existing phoneset, can include a word boundary feature, can include a cluster feature where initial consonant clusters and some word boundaries are marked with diacritics, can include a function word feature which marks units as originating from a function word or a content word, and/or can include a pre-vocalic or post-vocalic feature. The speech synthesizer front end can incorporates the supplemental phoneset as an extra feature.
1. A method comprising:
adding a supplemental phoneset to a speech synthesizer front end having an existing phoneset, wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises a cluster feature where initial consonant clusters and a word boundary are marked with diactitics;
modifying a unit preselection process by adding costs associated with the supplemental phoneset to a preselection cost that is part of the unit preselection process, to yield a modified unit preselection process;
preselecting units from the supplemental phoneset and the existing phoneset based on the modified unit preselection process, to yield preselected units; and
generating speech based on the preselected units.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the supplemental phoneset is a variation of the existing phoneset.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises a word boundary feature.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises a function word feature which marks units as originating from one of a function word and a content word.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises one of a pre-vocalic and a post-vocalic feature.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the speech synthesizer front end incorporates the supplemental phoneset as an extra feature.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein preselecting of the units further comprises assigning costs to units in one phoneset based on whether a unit of interest agrees in terms of another phoneset.
8. A system comprising:
a processor;
a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
adding a supplemental phoneset to a speech synthesizer front end having an existing phoneset, wherein the suppliemental phoneset comprises a cluster feature where initial consonant clusters and a work boundary are marked with diacritics;
modifying a unit preselection process by adding costs associated with the supplemental phoneset to a preselection cost that is part of the unit preselection process, to yield a modified unit preselection process;
preselecting units from the supplemental phoneset and the existing phoneset based on the modified unit preselection process, to yield preselected units; and
generating speech based on the preselected units.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the supplemental phoneset is a variation of the existing phoneset.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises a word boundary feature.
11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises a function word feature which marks units as originating from one of a function word and a content word.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises a pre-vocalic and a post-vocalic feature.
13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the speech synthesizer front end incorporates the supplemental phoneset as an extra feature.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein preselection of the units further comprises assigning costs to units in one phoneset based on whether a unit of interest agrees in terms of another phoneset.
15. A computer-readable storage device having instructions stored which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:
adding a supplemental phoneset to a speech synthesizer front end having an existing phoneset, wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises a cluster feature where initial consonant clusters and a word boundary are marked with diacritics;
modifying a unit preselection process by adding costs associated with the supplemental phoneset to a preselection cost that is part of the unit preselection process, to yield a modified unit preselection process;
preselecting units from the supplemental phoneset and the existing phoneset based on the modified unit preselection process, to yield preselected units; and
generating speech based on the preselected units.
16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the supplemental phoneset is a variation of the existing phoneset.
17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the supplemental phoneset comprises a word boundary feature.