Patent · US Expired

Method for generating spelling-to-pronunciation decision tree

US6230131A · kind A · utility

54Cited by
2References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 29, 1998
Grant dateMay 8, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 29, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG10L13/08
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Decision trees are used to store a series of yes-no questions that can be used to convert spelled-word letter sequences into pronunciations. Letter-only trees, having internal nodes populated with questions about letters in the input sequence, generate one or more pronunciations based on probability data stored in the leaf nodes of the tree. The pronunciations may then be improved by processing them using mixed trees which are populated with questions about letters in the sequence and also questions about phonemes associated with those letters. The mixed tree screens out pronunciations that would not occur in natural speech, thereby greatly improving the results of the letter-to-pronunciation transformation.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.