Babbler is an experimental articulatory speech synthesizer written in C. Unlike traditional Text-to-Speech systems that use pre-recorded samples, Babbler simulates the physics of a vocal tract. It models the mechanics of the human mouth to produce phonemes procedurally.

The engine calculates muscle movements, air pressure, and inertia to "speak" dynamically. It includes an ASCII visualizer to show the mouth state in real time.

Core Concepts

The simulation relies on a 6-dimensional vector (f6_t) that represents the state of the vocal tract.

The 6 Dimensions of the Voice

tx (Tongue Place): Position of the tongue from lips (0.0) to glottis (1.0).
ty (Tongue Height): How close the tongue is to the roof of the mouth.
la (Lip Aperture): How open or closed the lips are.
lr (Lip Rounding): Whether the lips are spread or protruding.
gt (Glottal Tension): Controls voicing, breathing, or stopping airflow.
nz (Velum/Nasality): Controls airflow through the nose.

Physics Engine

The system does not just jump between states. It simulates physical constraints:

Inertia: Muscles take time to move. The tongue follows targets with weighted inertia.
Aerodynamics: If the lips close while air is pushed, intra-oral pressure builds up (pressure). When released, it creates a "burst" (plosive sounds like P, B, T, K) .
Jitter: Biological noise is added to targets to simulate natural imperfection.

Features

Real-time ASCII Visualizer: A terminal-based view of the vocal tract showing lips, tongue position, and velum state.
Fantasy Language Generation: Includes generators for distinct linguistic styles:
- Common: Standard phonemes.
- Orcish: Guttural sounds using uvular and pharyngeal articulators.
- Elvish: Soft sounds with liquids and front vowels.
- Slavic: Palatalized consonants and specific vowel systems.
IPA Transcription: The system attempts to "hear" itself and transcribe the raw motor output back into IPA or specific orthographies (Polish, German, etc.).

Build and Run

The project has no external dependencies beyond the standard C library.

Compilation

Use the provided Makefile to build the synthesizer and tools:

make

Running the Examples

The project includes several demo modes:

./synth: Runs the main simulation. It generates random names in different fantasy languages and visualizes pronunciation.
./example_3: Demonstrates "Motor Babbling". This simulates an infant learning to control mouth muscles by exploring attractor states (vowels vs consonants).

Project Structure

src/articulator.c: The core physics engine handling inertia and aerodynamics.
src/articulator_db.c: Database of phoneme targets (definitions of where the tongue goes for 'a', 'k', 's', etc.).
src/visualizer.c: Code for drawing the ASCII face.
src/transcriber.c: Logic for converting raw motor output into text.
tools/mapgen.c: A utility that automatically generates orthography headers based on anchor points.

Example Output

When running, the visualizer displays the current state of the mouth:

[MMM] Roof:[      ^     ] G:[~] P:[#####]

Lips: [MMM] (Closed) vs [---] (Open).
Roof: Shows the tongue's position relative to the palate.
G: Glottis state (~ for vibrating/voiced).
P: Internal air pressure gauge.

License

MIT