[MV] 't' sounds in UK English speakers affecting recognition?

[Erica Mackenzie]

Hello all,

Excuse the cross-posting; I wanted to reach as broad a spectrum of
people as possible, as I'm aiming at a minority audience within the
lists' membership. Also, this could apply to ViaVoice, and conceivably
even Dragon's Naturally Speaking, as well as iListen.

I'm Australian by birth, although my parents were Canadian and Austrian.
But as to accent, I'm about 60 - 80% RP UK English, depending on mood,
thanks to the influence of a well-spoken, middle-class English husband
whom I eloped with at age fifteen and eventually married. Seven years of
intensive, eighteen hour a day 'training' does wonders with the young
mind, especially a linguistically oriented one with a propensity for
picking up accents :-).

One thing I've wondered is, does iListen have more trouble with
well-spoken English speakers, and if so, is it because we pronounce our
'tees', instead of slurring them into the softer 'dees', as Americans
and (proper 'Strine') Australians do. The sound the 't' makes is, I
think, called a fricative, or something like that; I'm not sure if
that's the proper word for it, but I wonder if these fricatives are
causing some, at least, of the recognition trouble I'm having.

I had an American version of iListen on loan for some considerable time,
and got quite good recognition with it (although not as good as with
ViaVoice, unfortunately), even though I'd only read a fraction of the
stories which I've read with this one (I've read all except the
'Dracula' one, which I can't face :-). The Canadian-ish accent I fed it
was much smoother and more drawled than the English-ish accent -
complete with 'tees' - which I'm inflicting on this version.

Amongst other things, I keep getting little words at the ends of
phrases, clauses, sentences ... wherever I pause, and at the ends of
words ending in, or containing 't' and sometimes other hard consonants,
as far as I can tell from cursory observation. I place the mic to the
side of my mouth, and below or above the level of my lips, and the
regulation two fingers' width away. If I put if too far away, the signal
drops out.

I've tried all sorts of combinations and positions, but I can't match
the accuracy I had before, and I'm buggered if I'm going to buy an
American version; speaking in American annoys the whole family (although
they've no objection to listening to it on DVD or television :-) and
hurts my facial muscles, not to mention making me feel like a complete
prat ...

I'd be interested in MacSpeech's thoughts, as the Philips speech engine,
if it's really made by Philips, a Dutch company, shouldn't necessarily
have American proclivities ... not that I'd know - that might have been
their intended market ... they wouldn't be the first Europeans to
programme in American.

Any 't' pronouncing English people out there with similar experiences?
(users of glottal stops, i.e. Cockneys, or whatever they're called these
days, need not apply <g>)

best,
 
Erica Mackenzie
QLD, AUSTRALIA

n.b. I suffer from a neurological auto-immune disorder which sometimes prevents me from using my computer for extended periods of time. I will get back to you when I can, if I can.