An information-theoretic analysis of phonetic dictionary access

✍ Scribed by David M. Carter

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 798 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-2308
• DOI: 10.1016/0885-2308(87)90023-4

✦ Synopsis

Recent studies of English vocabulary have suggested that much of the linguistic content of the speech signal resides in stressed syllables and in broad phonetic classes corresponding to manner of articulation. both of which are comparatively easy to recognize. The implication is drawn that a promising strategy for speech recognition is to concentrate initially on these aspects of the signal, using phonotactic, lexical and (if available) higher level constraints to reduce the need for more detailed analysis. This paper argues that the evaluation criteria used to date in such studies are inappropriate, and. using a more appropriate information-theoretic approach, shows. by repeating a reprcscntatiqe experiment, that many of the resulting claims are misleading and that there is in fact no reason to expect a recognition strategy of the type suggested to be particularly fruitful.