Production models as a structural basis for automatic speech recognition

We postulate in this paper that highly structured speech production models will have much to contribute to the ultimate success of speech recognition in View of the weaknesses of the theoretical foundation underpinning current technology. These weaknesses are analyzed in terms of phonological modeling and of phonetic-interface modeling. We present two probabilistic speech recognition models with the structure designed based on approximations to human speech production mechanisms, and conclude by suggesting that many of the advantages to be gained from interaction between speech production and speech recognition communities will develop from integrating production models with the probabilistic analysis-by-synthesis strategy currently used by the technology community. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.