8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to: divide the reference character train into groups each comprising a plurality of characters, the reference phoneme train having groups corresponding to the groups of the divided reference character train; and wherein the comparison between the designated target phoneme train and the reference phoneme train comprises a comparison between the designated target phoneme train and the groups of the divided reference phoneme train.
8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to: divide the reference character train into groups each comprising a plurality of characters, the reference phoneme train having groups corresponding to the groups of the divided reference character train; and wherein the comparison between the designated target phoneme train and the reference phoneme train comprises a comparison between the designated target phoneme train and the groups of the divided reference phoneme train. 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to divide the reference character train into the groups at least on a morpheme-by-morpheme basis.