JP2003084789A - Electronic speaking device and data structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic speaking device which can accurately adjust the difference between a quick speaking and a slow speaking of a native speaker when speaking and displays a spelling representation corresponding to spelling change in the case where spellings are changed in accordance with change of pronunciation. SOLUTION: The electronic speaking device is provided with an example sentence table for storage of example sentences, a phonetic symbol/spelling table in which phonetic symbols and spellings corresponding to variations of pronunciation for speaking words constituting the example sentences at different speaking speeds are stored for every speaking speed, a pronunciation table in which phonetic symbols and pronunciation data for converting the phonetic symbols into voice signals are stored while being made to correspond to each other, a clock table in which a clock signal as the reference of speaking speeds is stored, an input part for setting an example sentence and a speaking speed, a synthesized example sentence storage part in which the example sentence table and the phonetic symbol/spelling table are referred to on the basis of the set example sentence and speaking speed to generate and store a synthesized example sentence as the pronunciation object, a display part which displays example sentences and the synthesized example sentence together with a speaking speed, and an electronic synthesizer which refers to the pronunciation table and the clock table to electronically synthesize a voice signal of words constituting the synthesized example sentence and pronounces it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic sounding device having a voicing function capable of outputting a sentence as a voice. The present invention relates to an electronic sounding device such as an electronic dictionary or an electronic translator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic pronunciation devices such as electronic dictionaries and electronic translators, which can output sentences as speech for language learning, have become widespread. For example, if you specify an example sentence in the English electronic dictionary, not only the English sentence and the Japanese sentence of the sentence are displayed, but you can also hear the English sentence as a voice by pressing the attached pronunciation key button. In addition to translating, you can also practice listening by voice output.

Further, it is possible to pronounce a word or the like at a normal pronunciation speed, to slow down the pronunciation speed in accordance with the learner's language ability, and to adjust the pronunciation frequency. A language learning machine equipped with is disclosed in JP-A-60-159776.

[0004]

In the conventional electronic sounding apparatus, as described above, the sounding speed can be controlled according to the degree of the language ability. At that time, the frequency characteristic is changed even if the speed is changed. It is pronounced so that it does not change.

However, comparing the fact that a native speaker of English or the like actually speaks an English sentence quickly and slowly, the difference is not simple. That is,
When the native speaker speaks early and slowly, not only speed changes but also pronunciation changes such as rhythm and abbreviated pronunciation are added, so simply changing the speed or frequency mechanically changes the actual pronunciation of the native speaker. Will be different from. Therefore, even if the pronunciation is changed only by these mechanical adjustments, it is impossible to practice the listening practice according to the reality.

Further, as the pronunciation speed increases, the spelling (spelling) often changes in accordance with the change in the pronunciation, and the learner can easily and accurately learn many abbreviated pronunciations and spellings used in colloquial language. Difficult to understand.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electronic sounding device capable of accurately changing the difference between when a native speaker speaks early and when it speaks slowly, including abbreviated pronunciation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic sounding device capable of displaying a spelling notation corresponding to a change in spelling corresponding to a change in pronunciation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic sounding device capable of producing a sound in accordance with a change when a part of a phrase is accented and emphasized.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic sounding device in which the speed of an example sentence initially displayed on the electronic sounding device can be arbitrarily set so that it can be easily adjusted according to the user's language ability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic sounding device which makes it possible to compare the spelling of an example sentence with a high speed and a slow speed so as to be easy to use.

[0012]

The electronic pronunciation device of the present invention made to solve the above-mentioned problems is an example sentence table storing example sentences and a pronunciation when the words and phrases constituting the example sentences are pronounced at different pronunciation speeds. A phonetic symbol / spelling table that stores phonetic symbols and spelling corresponding to changes for each pronunciation speed; a phonetic table that stores phonetic symbols and phonetic data for converting the phonetic symbols into voice signals in association with each other; Refer to the example sentence table and the phonetic symbol / spelling table based on the clock table that stores the clock signal that is the reference of the pronunciation speed, the input unit that sets the example sentence and the pronunciation speed, and the set example sentence and the pronunciation speed. And a synthetic example sentence storage unit for creating and storing a synthetic example sentence to be pronounced and a display unit for displaying the example sentence and the synthetic example sentence together with the pronunciation speed. The words that constitute the synthesis example sentence refers to the sound table and a clock table comprising and an Could electronic synthesizer to synthesize electronically audio signal.

According to the present invention, the example sentence and the pronunciation speed at which the example sentence is pronounced are input and set from the input unit. When the example sentence is pronounced at the set pronunciation speed and changes such as abbreviated pronunciations, the variation forms are summarized in the phonetic symbol / spelling table, so the example sentence is adjusted based on this and the synthesized example sentence Is created and stored in the synthetic example sentence storage unit. The created synthetic example sentence is displayed on the display unit, and the pronunciation table and the clock table are referred to so that the pronunciation symbol corresponding to the synthetic example sentence is pronounced by the voice synthesizer at the speed of the clock table.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of an electronic translator which is an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a cabinet of an electronic sounding device. Reference numeral 11 denotes an LCD (liquid crystal display) that functions as a display device, and various messages such as input words and example sentences are displayed.

Reference numeral 12 is an alphabet key for inputting alphabets and the like (including Japanese katakana and hiragana input by inputting Roman letters), and 13 is a status key for selecting a conversation situation (travel, shopping, telephone, etc.). is there.
By pressing the situation key 12, example sentences often used in the situation are displayed. In this figure, the three push button keys are assigned to three situations of travel, shopping, and telephone respectively, but various situations may be selected one by one each time the button is pushed. At this time, for example, the situation name is displayed on the LCD 11 so that the user can select the situation.

Reference numeral 14 is a speed key for speed adjustment, and the tone generation speed can be changed in five steps by operating the up and down keys. The set speed is displayed on the LCD 11 (see FIG. 7).

Reference numeral 15 is a sounding key for sounding the text displayed on the display device. When this key is pressed, the speaker to be described later sounds the displayed text. Reference numeral 16 is a bookmark key for adding an accent, and 17 is a movement key for changing the setting contents in each input operation and moving the cursor displayed on the LCD 11 up, down, left and right. 1
Reference numeral 8 is a search key for searching for an example sentence from the entered spelling or the like. 19 is a setting key for confirming various inputs, 2
Reference numeral 0 is a speaker for outputting sound.

In this cabinet 10, a PCB (Prin) having a circuit structure such as a battery, a battery terminal / CPU / ROM / RAM / an LSI chip having a voice synthesizer mounted thereon is provided.
tedCircuit Board) is built in. PCB and LCD
And are connected by HMF (Hot Melt Film).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic translator which is an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes an input device, which includes the alphabet key 12, the status key 13, the speed key 14, the sound generation key 15, the bookmark key 16, the movement key 17, the search key 18, and the setting key 19 of FIG.

31 is a CPU / ROM / R for downsizing
It is a microcomputer in which an AM / display controller / input controller is mounted on one chip. A display device 32 corresponds to the LCD 11 of FIG.

Reference numeral 33 is a voice synthesizer for electronically synthesizing voice, which is controlled by the CPU of the microcomputer 31. Upon receiving the pronunciation data having a specific frequency characteristic, the voice synthesizer can emit a synthetic voice signal corresponding to the pronunciation data.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a speaker which receives the output signal from the audio synthesizer and generates a sound, and corresponds to the speaker 20 of FIG. Reference numeral 35 is a transmitter that creates a clock that serves as a reference for sounding speed, and is controlled by the CPU of the microcomputer 31. The transmitter 35 transmits a speed signal based on the clock table.

Next, the ROM of the microcomputer 31
The data such as the table stored in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing data stored as an example sentence table. A large number of basic example sentences often used in spoken conversation are registered in the example sentence table. The sentences registered here are grouped according to the situations that one encounters on a daily basis, such as travel, shopping, and telephone calls. For example, the sentences of travel situations are conversations used at the airport as shown in the figure. "What's is your purpose?""Do you have something
English sentences such as "declare?" and "Could you exchange it?" are accumulated.

FIG. 4 is a phonetic symbol / spell table.
In this table, phonetic symbols that represent the pronunciations of the sentences in the example sentence table of FIG. 3 when the native speaker pronounces them at different speeds and spellings corresponding to the pronunciations are grouped together in pairs. There is. When the phonetic symbols and spelling are changed to abbreviated pronunciation according to the pronunciation speed, such changes are also summarized.

FIG. 5 shows pronunciation data which is conversion data when a voice signal is produced when a pronunciation symbol is output as a voice. When this pronunciation data is sent from a voice synthesizer to a speaker, a voice corresponding to the pronunciation symbol is produced. Can be generated. Therefore, by sending a phonetic symbol group corresponding to a certain example sentence to the voice synthesizer, converting it into a voice signal based on the pronunciation data, and outputting the voice signal from the speaker, a synthesized voice for reading the sentence can be heard.

FIG. 6 is a clock table associated with the transmitter 35. Clocks of five stages are registered in the clock table, and when the example sentence is pronounced, the tone generation speed is controlled by referring to this clock period. A clock with a long cycle corresponds to a slow speed, and a clock with a short cycle corresponds to a high speed.

Next, the actual operation of the above device will be described.
For example, a case where the user selects "travel" with the status key 13 and operates the up and down keys of the movement key 17 to scroll the example sentences to display the example sentences often used at the airport will be described as an example. Here, consider a case where "What is your purpose?" That is spoken when you are asked about your travel purpose at the airport is selected as an example sentence.

As shown in FIG. 7, when a native speaker speaks English having this meaning, it depends on the speed (a).
"What is your purpose?", (B) "What's your pur
Three types of sentences, "pose?" and (c) "Whacha purpose?" are possible.

Of these, (a) is a spell when pronounced at a slow setting of speeds 1 and 2, (b) is a spell when pronounced at speeds 3 and 4, and (c) is the fastest speed 5 It is a spell when pronounced in. It is assumed that the sentence of speed 3 is set to be displayed in the initial setting (how to set will be described later with reference to FIG. 11). Scroll the example sentence to find the corresponding sentence. The display of (b) appears, so select this. When the pronunciation key 15 is pressed with (b) displayed, the pronunciation of the example sentence is pronounced at speed 3.

Press the pronunciation key again to repeat
Example sentences at speed 3 are pronounced. Next, when the upper key of the speed key 14 is pressed to change the speed to 4, the speed at that time is displayed on the LCD 11 and
At the display of (b), sound is produced at a speed faster than speed 3.

Next, when the speed key is pressed again to speed 5, the spell display changes from (b) to (c). Further, when the pronunciation key 15 is pressed in this state, the abbreviated pronunciation corresponding to the spelling of (c) is spoken.

When speed 3 is changed to speed 2, (a) the sentence "What is your purpose?" Is changed, and the abbreviated pronunciation is lost. The pronunciation at this time is the rhythm when the native speaker speaks slowly to make it easier to hear. When the speed is further reduced to speed 1, only the speed becomes slower with the same pronunciation as speed 2.

A user's input operation and the microcomputer 31 at the time of performing the above display operation and sounding operation
The control operation executed by will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(St101) The user presses the status key 13 and selects an example sentence with the movement key.

(St102) Microcomputer 31
Selects the speed set by default. This initial setting may be made at the time of factory shipment,
It may be input by the user from a setting screen described later.

(St103) The currently selected speed is temporarily stored in the RAM, and the LCD is displayed as shown in FIG.
Make it possible to refer to the speed at 11.

(St104) In parallel with st103, the selected example sentence is temporarily stored in the RAM so that the example sentence can be referred to on the LCD 11 as shown in FIG.

(St105 to st107) The microcomputer 31 refers to the speed information and the example sentence information, and extracts from the pronunciation / spelling table a phonetic symbol and spell suitable for the speed at that time. Then, a new sentence is synthesized by replacing the phonetic symbols and spelling of the original example sentence.

(St108 to st109) The synthesized example sentence created is temporarily stored in the RAM, and further sent to the LCD 11 via the display control device for display. (Fig. 7 (a)
(See (b) and (c))

(St110) If the displayed synthetic example sentence is different from the sentence whose pronunciation is desired to be heard, the pronunciation key is not pressed to proceed to st111. If the synthetic example sentence is the sentence whose pronunciation is desired to be heard, the pronunciation key is pushed. By st
Proceed to 112.

(St111) If the displayed synthetic example sentence is different from the sentence for which the pronunciation is desired to be heard, the speed key is pressed to select a different speed. By this, st1 again
03, returning to st104, the same operation is repeated.

(St112) The displayed synthetic example sentence is a sentence whose pronunciation is desired to be heard, and when the pronunciation key is pressed, the microcomputer refers to the pronunciation symbol of the synthetic example sentence temporarily stored in the RAM.

(St113) The pronunciation data corresponding to the pronunciation symbol of the synthetic example sentence is taken out from the pronunciation table.

(St114) The retrieved pronunciation data are arranged along the sentence of the synthetic example sentence and temporarily stored in the RAM.

(St115 to st116) A voice synthesizer synthesizes a voice signal with reference to the arranged tone generation data and the clock table.

(St117) The voice signal synthesized by the voice synthesizer is sounded from the speaker.

With the above flow, the user can
You can hear how the synthesized example sentence displayed in 11 is pronounced. It should be noted that these series of operations are performed in the ROM
This is done by executing a program stored in.

Here, how to set the speed will be described. When the setting key 19 is pressed, the standard speed setting screen shown in FIG. 11 appears.

Now, assuming that the standard speed is set to 3 as shown in FIG. 11A, the speed can be changed by pressing the speed key 14 again.
As shown in (b), the set speed can be set to 2. Here, when the setting key 19 is pressed again, the setting speed 2 is stored, and thereafter, the program proceeds as the initial setting speed 2. This operation is also executed by the program stored in the ROM.

Next, the function of the bookmark key 16 will be described. Example sentence on LCD 11 (Composite example sentence after replacement may be used)
When the bookmark key is pressed after displaying, the cursor appears in the sentence displayed on the LCD 11.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a cursor displayed on the LCD 11. In the figure, cursors 40a, 40b,
40c repeats the normal display reverse display at regular intervals surrounding a specific phrase. It is possible to move the cursor to a different word by moving this to the left or right using the move key 17 in FIG.

When the pronunciation key 15 is pressed with the cursor displayed, the pronunciation of the word at which the cursor is placed is accented. The pronunciation of the word emphasized with accent at this time is also recorded in the phonetic symbol / spelling table shown in FIG. 4, and the pronunciation is made in the same procedure as in the above example.

FIG. 10 shows the phonetic symbols /
It is a table showing a spell table. Shown here are phonetic symbols / spells at speed 1 (Fig. 9
(A)) It is an example. In FIG. 9 (a), "What" has an accent, which is stored in FIG. 10 41 (a).
It corresponds to.

When the user moves the cursor to "is" or "your" with the move key 17 to change the position of the accent, the accent is displayed as shown in 41 (b) and 41 (c) of FIG. 10 accordingly. The position of the symbol also changes. Therefore, by pronouncing the changed phonetic symbols, it is possible to hear the pronunciation in which the accented part is emphasized.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the speed can be adjusted with the bookmark displayed. That is,
In Fig. 7 (a), the bookmark is "what" when the speed is 1.
I put it in. Here, when the speed key 14 is pressed to change the speed to 3, "What" is replaced with "What's" by referring to the phonetic symbol / spelling table of FIG.

At this time, the bookmark is automatically added to the "What's" portion corresponding to "What" as shown in FIG. 7B. Similarly, when the speed is changed to 5, the portion with the bookmark is changed to "Whacha" as shown in FIG. 7 (c). This bookmark function is also executed by the program stored in the ROM.

In the above embodiments, only one spell is displayed for one example sentence, but the present invention is not limited to this. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example in which a basic example sentence and a synthetic example sentence obtained by replacing the basic example sentence are displayed in parallel.

In the figure, 42a is a spell display without abbreviation which is a basic example sentence. 42b shows the spell pattern corresponding to the currently selected speed of speed 3. As described above, the position of 42b is displayed by the user freely selecting the speed, and the basic example sentence which is the original sentence at that time is displayed as 42a.

Needless to say, the present invention is applicable not only to English, but also to other sounding devices such as language learning machines for various languages such as Western languages, Asian languages such as South Korea and China.

[0061]

As described above, according to the electronic sounding device of the present invention, it is possible to accurately adjust the difference between when the native speaker speaks quickly and when the native speaker speaks slowly, and to pronounce the sound. When the spelling changes in response to the change, the spelling notation corresponding to the change can be displayed, so that it can be easily used for language learning and the like.

Further, a part of the sentence can be accented and emphasized so that the pronunciation can be made in accordance with the change in pronunciation, which can be useful for learning the accented pronunciation. In addition, the speed of the example sentence initially displayed on the electronic sounding device can be set arbitrarily so that it can be easily adjusted according to the user's language ability. In addition, by displaying the spelling of the example sentence of high speed and slow speed at the same time, it is possible to learn while contrasting the difference in pronunciation and the difference in spelling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an electronic translator that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of an electronic translator that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing example sentences registered in an example sentence table.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing phonetic symbol / spelling table data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing data of a pronunciation table.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing data in a clock table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing changes in spelling display due to speed changes.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic translator.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a change in spell display when a bookmark is displayed.

FIG. 10: Phonetic symbols with different accent positions /
The figure which shows the data of a spell table.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a speed setting screen.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state in which a basic example sentence and an example sentence when the spell is changed by changing the speed are displayed in parallel.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Electronic translator (cabinet) 11: LCD 12: Alphabet input key 13: Situation input key 14: Speed key 15: Pronunciation key 16: Bookmark key 17: Move key 18: Search key 19: Setting key 30: Input section 31: Microcomputer 32: Display device 33: Voice synthesizer 34: speaker 35: Originator

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An example sentence table storing example sentences, and a phonetic symbol / spelling table storing phonetic symbols and spelling corresponding to pronunciation changes when pronunciations of words constituting the example sentences are performed at different pronunciation speeds. , A pronunciation table storing phonetic symbols and pronunciation data for converting the phonetic symbols into voice signals in association with each other, a clock table storing a clock signal serving as a reference of the pronunciation speed, an example sentence and the pronunciation speed. An input unit to be set, a synthetic example sentence storage unit for creating and storing a synthetic example sentence to be pronounced by referring to the example sentence table and phonetic symbol / spelling table based on the set example sentence and pronunciation speed, and an example sentence. And the composition table that displays the composition example sentences together with the pronunciation speed, and the words and phrases that make up the composition example sentences by referring to the pronunciation table and the clock table. Electronic sound generating device comprising a Could electronic synthesizer synthesizes the speech signal, the in manner. 2. The phonetic symbol / spelling table further stores phonetic symbols and spellings corresponding to changes in pronunciation when the position of accents attached to the words is changed for each pronunciation speed, and the input section accents the words. The position can be set, and the display is configured to display the bookmark symbol that displays the accent position of the phrase. When the accent position of the phrase is changed, the pronunciation symbol / spelling table is referenced to change the pronunciation. The electronic sounding device according to claim 1, wherein a phonetic symbol and a spelling corresponding to are selected to create a synthetic example sentence. 3. The electronic sounding device according to claim 1, wherein the input unit is configured so that an initial display speed can be set. 4. The display unit is configured such that an example sentence stored in the example sentence table and a synthetic example sentence in which spelling changes according to a change in pronunciation speed can be displayed in parallel. Electronic sounding device described. 5. The display unit displays a bookmark symbol on an accented word in an example sentence or a synthetic example sentence,
The electronic sounding device according to claim 2, wherein when the speed setting is changed and a synthetic example sentence of a new spell is displayed, a bookmark symbol is displayed on a word or phrase corresponding to an original accent of the new spell. . 6. A data structure for an electronic sounding device, in which a spelling and a phonetic symbol are combined and associated with each other for each pronunciation speed of words and phrases whose pronunciation changes according to the pronunciation speed.