Speech: A dynamic process

Speech: A dynamic process takes readers on a rigorous exploratory journey to expose them to the inherently dynamic nature of speech. The book addresses an intriguing question: Based only on physical principles alone, can the exploitation of a simple acoustic tube evolve into an optimal speech production system comparable to the one we possess? In the work presented, the tube is deformed step by step with the sole criterion of expending minimum effort to obtain maximum acoustic variations. At the end of this process, the tube is found divided into distinctive regions and an acoustic space emerges capable of generating speech sounds. Attaching this tube to a model, an inherently dynamic and efficient system is created. In the resulting system, optimal primitive trajectories are seen to naturally exist in the acoustic space and the regions defined in the tube correspond to the main places of articulation for oral vowels and plosive consonants. All this implies that these speech sounds are inherent properties of not only the modeled acoustic tube but also of the human speech production system. This book stands as a valuable resource for accomplished and aspiring speech scientists as well as for other interested persons in search for an introduction to speech acoustics that takes an unconventional path.

About the Author

Rene Carre, Universite Lyon-2; Pierre Divenyi, Stanford University; Mohamed Mryati, GIZ.