DEVELOPMENT OF A REAL-TIME SPEECH RECOGNITION SYSTEM FOR THE AZERBAIJANI LANGUAGE

Abstract

This paper investigates the development of a real-time automatic speech recognition system dedicated to the Azerbaijani language, focusing on addressing the prevalent gap in speech recognition system for underrepresented languages. Our research integrates a hybrid acoustic modeling approach that combines Hidden Markov Model and Deep Neural Network to interpret the complexities of Azerbaijani acoustic patterns effectively. Recognizing the agglutinative nature of Azerbaijani, the ASR system employs a syllable-based n-gram model for language modeling, ensuring the system accurately captures the syntax and semantics of Azerbaijani speech. To enable real-time capabilities, we incorporate WebSocket technology, which facilitates efficient bidirectional communication between the client and server, necessary for processing streaming speech data instantly. The Kaldi and SRILM toolkits are used for the training of acoustic and language models, respectively, contributing to the system's robust performance and adaptability. We have conducted comprehensive experiments to test the effectiveness of our system, the results of which strongly corroborate the utility of the syllable-based subword modeling approach for Azerbaijani language recognition. Our proposed ASR system shows superior performance in terms of recognition accuracy and rapid response times, outperforming other systems tested on the same language data. The system's success not only proves beneficial for Azerbaijani language recognition but also provides a valuable framework for potential future applications in other agglutinative languages, thereby contributing to the promotion of linguistic diversity in automatic speech recognition technology.