Speech synthesizing device, computer program product, and method

A speech synthesizing device comprising:

• an acquiring unit configured to acquire a pattern sentence, which includes a fixed segment that is not to be replaced with any other word and a non-fixed segment that is to be replaced with another word, and a substitution word that is substituted for the non-fixed segment;
• a first sentence generating unit configured to generate a target sentence by replacing the non-fixed segment with the substitution word;
• a second sentence generating unit configured to generate an alternative target sentence that has a higher similarity to the target sentence than a threshold;
• a first synthetic-sound generating unit configured to generate a first synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the fixed segment, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• a second synthetic-sound generating unit configured to generate a second synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the substitution word, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• a calculating unit configured to calculate a discontinuity value of a boundary between the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• a selecting unit configured to select the target sentence or the alternative target sentence, whichever has the smaller discontinuity value;
• and
• a connecting unit configured to connect the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound of the target sentence or the alternative target sentence that is selected.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium including programmed instructions for synthesizing a speech that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform:

• acquiring a plurality of pattern sentences, which are similar to one another and each include a fixed segment and a non-fixed segment, and a substitution word, the fixed segment is not to be replaced with any other word, the non-fixed segment is to be replaced with another word, the substitution word is substituted for the non-fixed segment;
• and a substitution word that is substituted for the non-fixed segment;
• generating a plurality of target sentences by replacing the non-fixed segment with the substitution word for each of the pattern sentences;
• generating a first synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the fixed segment, for each of the target sentences;
• generating a second synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the substitution word, for each of the target sentences;
• calculating a discontinuity value of a boundary between the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound, for each of the target sentences;
• selecting one of the target sentences having the smallest discontinuity value from the target sentences;
• and
• connecting the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound of the target sentence selected.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium including programmed instructions for synthesizing a speech that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform:

• acquiring a pattern sentence, which includes a fixed segment that is not to be replaced with any other word and a non-fixed segment that is to be replaced with another word, and a substitution word that is to be substituted for the non-fixed segment;
• acquiring a pattern sentence, which includes a fixed segment that is not to be replaced with any other word and a non-fixed segment that is to be replaced with another word, and a substitution word that is to be substituted for the non-fixed segment;
• generating a target sentence by replacing the non-fixed segment with the substitution word;
• generating an alternative target sentence having a higher similarity to the target sentence than a threshold;
• generating a first synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the fixed segment, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• generating a second synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the substitution word, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• calculating a discontinuity value of a boundary between the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• selecting the target sentence or the alternative target sentence, whichever has the smaller discontinuity value;
• and
• connecting the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound of the target sentence or the alternative target sentence that is selected.

A speech synthesizing method comprising:

• acquiring a plurality of pattern sentences, which are similar to one another and each include a fixed segment and a non-fixed segment, and a substitution word, the fixed segment is not to be replaced with any other word, the non-fixed segment is to be replaced with another word, the substitution word is substituted for the non-fixed segment;
• generating a plurality of target sentences by replacing the non-fixed segment with the substitution word for each of the pattern sentences;
• generating a first synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the fixed segment, for each of the target sentences;
• generating a second synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the substitution word, for each of the target sentences;
• calculating a discontinuity value of a boundary between the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound, for each of the target sentences;
• selecting one of the target sentences having the smallest discontinuity value from the target sentences;
• and
• connecting the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound of the target sentence selected.

A speech synthesizing method comprising:

• acquiring a pattern sentence, which includes a fixed segment that is not to be replaced with any other word and a non-fixed segment that is to be replaced with another word, and a substitution word that is to be substituted for the non-fixed segment;
• generating a target sentence by replacing the non-fixed segment with the substitution word;
• generating an alternative target sentence having a higher similarity to the target sentence than a threshold;
• generating a first synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the fixed segment, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• generating a second synthetic sound, which is a synthetic sound of the substitution word, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• calculating a discontinuity value of a boundary between the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound, for the target sentence and the alternative target sentence;
• selecting the target sentence or the alternative target sentence, whichever has the smaller discontinuity value;
• and
• connecting the first synthetic sound and the second synthetic sound of the target sentence or the alternative target sentence that is selected.