
Interest in such mechanical analogs of the human vocal apparatus continued well into the twentieth century. His machine consisted of elements that mimicked various organs used by humans to produce speech-a bellows for the lungs, a tube for the vocal tract, a side branch for the nostrils, etc. The earliest known device to mimic human speech was constructed by Wolfgang von Kempelen over 200 years ago.

Modern speech synthesis is the product of a rich history of attempts to generate speech by mechanical means.

Rabiner, in Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (Third Edition), 2003 IV Speech Synthesis
