The Harvard sentences, sometimes called Harvard lines,
is a collection of 720 sample phrases, divided into lists of 10, used for standardized testing of
Voice over IP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of speech, voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms In ...
,
cellular
Cellular may refer to:
*Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics
* Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more
* ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie
*Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular RF bands
*Cell ...
, and other
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
systems. They are phonetically balanced sentences that use specific phonemes at the same frequency they appear in English.
''
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
Recommended Practice for Speech Quality Measurements'' sets out seventy-two lists of ten phrases each, described as the "1965 Revised List of Phonetically Balanced Sentences (Harvard Sentences)." They are widely used in research on telecommunications, speech, and acoustics, where standardized and repeatable sequences of speech are needed. The ''Open Speech Repository'' provides some freely usable, prerecorded
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced "wave") is an audio file format standard, developed by IBM and Microsoft, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Microsoft Wind ...
files of Harvard Sentences in American and British English, in male and female voices.
Harvard lines are also used to observe how an actor's mouth can move when they are talking. This can be used when creating more realistic
CGI models.
Sample Harvard sentences
The first three lists are as follows:
List 1
# The birch canoe slid on the smooth planks.
# Glue the sheet to the dark blue background.
# It's easy to tell the depth of a well.
# These days a chicken leg is a rare dish.
# Rice is often served in round bowls.
# The juice of lemons makes fine punch.
# The box was thrown beside the parked truck.
# The hogs were fed chopped corn and garbage.
# Four hours of steady work faced us.
# A large size in stockings is hard to sell.
List 2
# The boy was there when the sun rose.
# A rod is used to catch pink salmon.
# The source of the huge river is the clear spring.
# Kick the ball straight and follow through.
# Help the woman get back to her feet.
# A pot of tea helps to pass the evening.
# Smoky fires lack flame and heat.
# The soft cushion broke the man's fall.
# The salt breeze came across from the sea.
# The girl at the booth sold fifty bonds.
List 3
# The small pup gnawed a hole in the sock.
# The fish twisted and turned on the bent hook.
# Press the pants and sew a button on the vest.
# The swan dive was far short of perfect.
# The beauty of the view stunned the young boy.
# Two blue fish swam in the tank.
# Her purse was full of useless trash.
# The colt reared and threw the tall rider.
# It snowed, rained, and hailed the same morning.
# Read verse out loud for pleasure.
References
[Why it’s so hard to make CGI skin look real]
(at 7m13s), ''Vox'', 3 August 2021 archived a
Ghostarchive.org
on 4 May 2022
External links
*
*
Telephony
Test items
{{telephony-stub