His words make filmmakers round the world jump to attention, but for the past four years he’s only been able to type them into a computer. Now, venerable film critic Roger Ebert can speak again – thanks to a synthetic speech system developed by an Edinburgh technology company, CereProc.

Ebert calls his new voice “Roger Jr.,” and Roger Jr. will be making his debut – where else? – on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” this coming Tuesday.

Long a respected movie critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert gained national attention in the late 1970s as the host of the popular PBS show “Sneak Previews.” When Ebert and co-host Gene Siskel renamed the show “At the Movies” and moved to commercially syndicated television in the early 1980s, they became the most famous film critics in the world. Siskel died in 1999; Ebert continued with other co-hosts until medical issues forced him to retire in 2006.

Ebert lost the ability to speak in 2007 – a casualty of his ongoing battle with thyroid cancer. In reconstructing his voice, CereProc relied upon commentaries Ebert had made for the DVD releases of “Citizen Kane,” “Casablanca,” “Floating Weeds,” “Dark City,” and — huh? — “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.”

And what will Roger Ebert be talking about on Oprah’s upcoming show? Why, his Oscar picks, of course.