1. Apparatus for coding a speech pattern comprising: means for partitioning said speech pattern into successive time frame portions; means responsive to each successive time frame portion of the speech pattern for generating speech parameter signals comprising a set of linear predictive parameter type spectral representative signals and an excitation signal comprising a sequence of excitation pulses each of amplitude beta and location m within said time frame; means responsive to the frame speech parameter signals for identifying successive intervals of said speech pattern as voiced or other than voiced, each voiced interval being a plurality of time frame portions coextensive with a pitch period of said speech pattern and each other than voiced interval comprising a time frame portion of said speech pattern; and means for modifying the excitation signals of each successive identified voiced interval to compress the speech pattern excitation signals of said speech pattern; said modifying means including: means responsive to each other than voiced interval for forming an excitation signal comprising the sequence of excitation pulses of the time frame portion of the other than voiced interval; means responsive to the occurrence of a succession of identified voiced intervals for forming an excitation signal comprising the sequence of excitation pulses of the pitch period of a selected one of said succession of identified voiced intervals; and means for forming an excitation signal for each of the remaining voiced intervals of said succession of identified voiced intervals comprising a coded signal repeating the sequence of excitation signals of the pitch period of said selected identified voiced interval.