What is speech synthesis?

Speech synthesis refers to the process where written text is converted into audible speech. This involves mapping the textual elements or tokens to phonetic representations, or phonemes, which are the distinct units of sound that contribute to speech. The technology relies on algorithms to generate vocal output that sounds as natural as possible, often employing techniques such as concatenative synthesis, where pre-recorded speech segments are combined, or parametric synthesis, which uses models to generate speech waveforms.

The other options do not accurately describe speech synthesis. The first choice describes speech recognition, which is the process of converting spoken language into text. The third option refers to speaker recognition, a separate technology focused on identifying voice characteristics to distinguish between different speakers. The fourth option outlines a general communication feature and does not specifically relate to the process of generating audible speech from text. Therefore, the characterization of speech synthesis as the conversion of text into speech through phoneme mapping is accurate and encapsulates the core function of this technology.