Information , Prosody , and Modeling — with Emphasis on Tonal Features of Speech —

Starting from the author’s view on the process of information manifestation in the tonal features of speech, this paper emphasizes the importance of objective and quantitative modeling in the study of these features. It then describes a model for the process of fundamental frequency control of speech that has been originally proposed and established for Japanese, and explains the physiological and physical evidences on which the model is based. Application of the model for generation of F0 contours of languages other than Japanese is then described, indicating how the original model can be modified and extended to cover those features that are not found in Japanese. The underlying mechanisms responsible for production of these features are also discussed.