Editing Wolfgang von Kempelen's Speaking Machine (1769) (section)

== Introduction ==
In 1769, Hungarian inventor [https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%83%E7%88%BE%E5%A4%AB%E5%B2%A1%C2%B7%E9%A6%AE%C2%B7%E8%82%AF%E4%BD%A9%E5%80%AB Wolfgang von Kempelen] began developing a mechanical device capable of mimicking human speech, known as the "Speaking Machine"<ref>Tarnóczy, T. H. “The Speaking Machine of Wolfgang von Kempelen.” ''The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America'' 21, no. 4_Supplement (July 1, 1949): 461–461. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1917078</nowiki>.</ref>. In 1791, Kempelen shared his insights and the inner workings of his "Speaking Machine" in a book titled "Mechanismus der Menschlichen Sprache" ("Mechanism of Human Speech and Language")<ref name=":1">Trouvain, Jürgen, and Fabian Brackhane. "Wolfgang von Kempelen’s speaking machine as an instrument for demonstration and research." In Proceedings of the 17th International. Congress of Phonetic Sciences. 17-21 August 2011, Hong Kong, pp. 164-167. 2011.</ref>. His Speaking Machine consisted of a bellows to simulate the lungs, a reed to act as vocal folds, and a leather tube representing the vocal tract (including the mouth, tongue, throat, and other structures involved in speech production). By manipulating the shape of the tube, a variety of vowel sounds could be produced. Consonants were generated through the use of keys that controlled openings analogous to the lips, tongue, and palate.<ref>Brackhane, Fabian, Jürgen Trouvain, and Richard W Sproat. “KEMPELEN Mechanismus der menschlichen Sprache,” n.d.</ref>


The Speaking Machine represented the first complete physical modeling of the human vocal system capable of synthesizing speech sounds.<ref name=":2" /> Wolfgang von Kempelen’s pioneering work played a foundational role in the early exploration of artificial speech production. Beyond its significance in understanding vocal mechanisms, the Speaking Machine serves as an exemplar of human ingenuity in addressing complex challenges, even with the technological limitations of its time.<ref name=":1" /> Sir Charles Wheatstone resurrected the work of Wolfgang von Kempelen, creating an improved replica of his Speaking Machine in 1837, inspiring [[wikipedia:Alexander_Graham_Bell|Alexander Graham Bell]] to build his own speaking machine, which led to his invention of the [[wikipedia:Telephone|telephone]] in 1876.