Syllable analyzer, coder and synthesizer for the transmission of speech

The analysis of speech by machine, the transmission of the coded message and the synthesis of speech from the code offer many advantages. For instance, if it is desired to transmit only "what" is spoken and not "how" it was spoken, very great savings in channel capacity to transmit information can be made. The digital form of the message permits more secure coding and decoding for secrecy. Work done at the RCA Laboratories on phonetic typewriters, machines that type in response to words spoken into a microphone, has shown that the transmission of speech analyzer output and synthesis of speech therefrom is feasible when performed by units of speech of the order of a syllable. Smaller phonetic entities, phonemes or speech sounds, cannot always be recognized by machine or even by ear without the knowledge of adjoining sounds. This information is always available when the analysis proceeds by syllables. Feasibility studies have also shown that intelligible speech can be synthesized from prerecorded syllables.