Introduction

This document discusses some topics important to the understanding of the production, analysis, synthesis, and modeling of human speech. After a presentation of background topics (vocal tract anatomy, introductory phonology, etc.), three main vowel-sound-synthesis schemes are examined: formant-filter-based vowel synthesis, cascaded-tube-section vowel synthesis, and vowel synthesis via frequency modulation. Examples and demonstration software are featured wherever possible to reinforce the results presented.