Abstract: A method for processing an input speech signal to be applied to a CELP vocoder has the steps of obtaining preliminary pitch search intervals by a preprocessing autocorrelation expression from a pitch lag of a synthesized speech signal which is synthesized from a residual signal of the input speech signal; computing coefficients of pitch filter with respect to the preliminary pitches; searching a high interval in the autocorrelation; and removing the remaining interval other than the high interval in the pitch lag. Since the present invention proposes a speech processing method which uses only a high interval in autocorrelation of a voice waveform in pitch-searching, and where such a speech processing method is embodied in a CELP vocoder, total computation time of the CELP vocoder can be decreased 37% or more without lowering speech quality. Therefore, a digital signal processor, which is low in price and is slow in speed, can be embodied in a CELP vocoder.