The Java Speech API (JSAPI) is an application programming interface for cross-platform support of command and control recognizers, dictation systems, and speech synthesizers.

The Java Speech API (JSAPI) is an application programming interface for cross-platform support of command and control recognizers, dictation systems, and speech synthesizers. Although JSAPI defines an interface only there are several implementations created by third parties, for example FreeTTS.

Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Speech_API