22. A method for recognizing a sequence of spoken character signals according to claim 21 wherein the generation of the modified trial word further comprises forming a second signal responsive to the absence of a next most probable character in said detected mismatched position of the array; replacing the character in said detected mismatched position of the stored trial word with the most probable character of the detected mismatched position of the array responsive to said second signal; shifting the detecting mismatched position left to the next left position in which there is a next most probable character in the array for substitution responsive to said second signal; and substituting said next most probable character in said next left position of the array in the next left position of the stored trial word responsive to said second signal.
21. A method for retrieving information from a directory storing a plurality of words addressing associated information and said associated information responsive to a sequence of spoken character signals according to claim 20 wherein the generation of the modified trial word comprises substituting the next most probable character from the detected mismatched position of the array in the detected mismatched position of the stored trial word.