1. Speech processing apparatus comprising: means for electronically deriving from speech over time a series of coordinate values representing positions of points on a path in a mathematical space which path positions represent the speech; electronic memory means for prestoring phonetic representations in correspondence with indicia of a glide in the path which indicia represent a nucleus in the space at which the glide begins and a range of directions from the nucleus; and means for electronically computing a trajectory parameter from the series of coordinate values and, when both the trajectory parameter satisfies a predetermined condition for significance and at least one of the coordinate values currently reached by the speech is within a predetermined region of such values, producing a signal, for electronically analyzing the speech on the path in response to the signal and, upon occurrence of a point position in the nucleus and an offglide on the path in said range of directions which offglide happens before another significant trajectory parameter occurs, obtaining from said electronic memory means the phonetic representation corresponding to the glide indicia.