Rule synthesis of speech from dyadic units

Peterson, Wang, and Sivertsen[1] suggested the use of the units called "dyads" as the basic unit for speech synthesis. This paper describes an approach to speech synthesis by rule which uses a unit that is similar but smaller than the dyad as defined by Peterson et al. This new unit specifies only the transition between the two phones of the dyad, while the "steady state" portions are obtained by connecting with straight lines the end points of adjacent transitions. Further simplifications of the dyadic concept include a reduced collection of dyadic transitions, and the storage of only the end points of the dyadic transitions: the transitions themselves are then obtained by interpolation between these end points. This paper describes a complete rule synthesis scheme which uses these simplified dyads in combination with a word pronouncing dictionary and suitable prosodic rules.