作者在第一章第一节就描绘出语音识别的巨大应用前景,和当前面临的问题.并指出本书的写作目的和定位.

"Our goal in this book is to give a series of presentations on the fundamental principles of most morden,successful speech-recognition systems so as to provide a framework from which reserchers can expand the frontier."

"We will provide the theoretical background and justification for each topic discussed so that reader is able to understand why the techniques have proved valuable and how they can be used to advantage in practical situations."