Computer Simulation Of Spontaneous Speech Production

This paper pinpoints some of the problems faced when a computer text production model (COMMENTATOR) is to produce spontaneous speech, in particular the problem of chunking the utterances in order to get natural prosodic units. The paper proposes a buffer model which allows the accumulation and delay of phonetic material until a chunk of the desired size has been built up. Several phonetic studies have suggested a similar temporary storage in order to explain intonation slopes, rythmical patterns, speech errors and speech disorders. Small-scale simulations of the whole verbalization process from perception and thought to sounds, hesitation behaviour, pausing, speech errors, sound changes and speech disorders are presented.