speech synthesizer

electronic device

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 14, 2026

Quick Summary

A speech synthesizer is an electronic device that generates human speech artificially, typically using a computer. The core idea is to replicate the human vocal tract through electrical circuits. These circuits produce a basic tone, modify its harmonic components, and create noise for consonant sounds, simulating the natural resonances of speech.12

While early attempts were rudimentary, modern speech synthesizers can produce remarkably natural-sounding speech, especially for continuous sounds. They are valuable tools for aiding individuals with speech or sight impairments and contribute to the scientific study of speech perception.21

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

speech
Synthetic production of speech sounds
A number of electronic speech synthesizers were constructed in various phonetic laboratories in the latter half of the 20th century. Some of these are named the “Coder,” “Voder,” and “Vocoder,” which are abbreviations for longer names (e.g., “Voder” standing for Voice Operation Demonstrator). In essence, they are electrical analogues…
Read More
A number of electronic speech synthesizers were constructed in various phonetic laboratories in the latter half of the 20th century. Some of these are named the “Coder,” “Voder,” and “Vocoder,” which are abbreviations for longer names (e.g., “Voder” standing for Voice Operation Demonstrator). In essence, they are electrical analogues…
Read More

phonetics
Instruments for acoustic phonetics
…gained from the use of speech synthesizers, which are instruments that take specifications of speech in terms of the acoustic factors summarized above and generate the corresponding sounds. Some speech synthesizers use electronic signal generators and amplifiers; others use digital computers to calculate the values of the required sound waves.…
Read More
…gained from the use of speech synthesizers, which are instruments that take specifications of speech in terms of the acoustic factors summarized above and generate the corresponding sounds. Some speech synthesizers use electronic signal generators and amplifiers; others use digital computers to calculate the values of the required sound waves.…
Read More

information processing
Voice
In synthetic speech generation, digitally prestored sound elements are converted to analog sound signals and combined to form words and sentences. Digital-to-analog converters are available as inexpensive boards for microcomputers or as software for larger machines. Human speech is the most effective natural form of communication, and…
Read More
In synthetic speech generation, digitally prestored sound elements are converted to analog sound signals and combined to form words and sentences. Digital-to-analog converters are available as inexpensive boards for microcomputers or as software for larger machines. Human speech is the most effective natural form of communication, and…
Read More