Phonetic Representation and Speech Synthesis by Rule*

While a computer model of performance in speech production is certainly conceivable, the title of this seminar, "Speech Synthesis Programs as Models of Speech Production," seems incorrect as a characterization of existing systems for synthesis of speech by rule 0 Insofar these systems have had more than the purely pragmatic goal of converting written utterances into spoken utterances, the objective has been a more modest one, but one that is nonetheless directl y related to the theme of this Symposium, "The Cognitive Representation of Speech." The objective has been to elucidate the nature of the phonetic representation shared by speaker and bearer (and recorded, after a fashion, in a conventional phonetic transcription) and relationship of this representation to physical events. A simulation of the mental activity underlying actual speech production would be a far more ambitious project, though one well· worth attempting.