Pattern adapting apparatus for speech or pattern recognition

A pattern adapting apparatus including an input pattern forming unit (11), a tree structure standard pattern storing unit (21) for storing a tree structure standard pattern including a tree structure indicative of inclusive relationships among categories and a parameter set at each node of the tree structure, a pattern matching unit (22) for matching categories of the tree structure standard pattern with input samples of an input pattern, a tree structure standard pattern modifying unit (23) for modifying a tree structure standard pattern based on the results of pattern matching, a node set selecting unit (24) for calculating a description length with respect to a plurality of node sets in a tree structure pattern to select an appropriate node set, a modified standard pattern forming unit (25) for forming a modified standard pattern by using a parameter set of a selected node set, and a standard pattern for recognition storing unit (12) for storing a modified standard pattern.