Von Kempelen talking machine

In 1791 Wolfgang von Kempelen built a taling machine that could produce speech utterances. Voiced sounds as well as unvoiced consonants could be generated. Bellows were used to expel air and this air was passed through a vibrating reed.

Unvoiced sounds were produced with the reed off, and by a turbulent flow through a suitable passage. Von Kempelen claimed that, apart from the vowel sounds, approximately 19 consonant sounds could be made.

Links

• Picture and description of Von Kempelen's machine
• More on the model of the vocal tract by Bell
• Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics

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