The goal of this study is to explore the position of pitch accent commands relative to the accented syllable in final and non-final words for absolute interrogative sentences in Spanish. Fundamental frequency parameters are obtained from the Fujisaki model. Results indicate that accent commands for three-syllable words in final position are associated with late peaks no matter which the stresse...

In this paper, we present the Philips large vocabulary continuous Mandarin speech recognition system developed for the 2000 Taiwan Speech Input Technology Assessment. We systematically integrated key Mandarin components with up-todate Western-language techniques to build up a state-of-the-art Mandarin speech recognition system. These technologies include robust pitch extraction/tone modeling, c...

This paper examines word-level prosody in Fataluku, an underdocumented Papuan language of East Timor. Although information about Fataluku remains very limited, at least three alternative analyses of word-level prosody have been suggested: predictable accent, phonemic accent and phonemic tone. This study investigates the phonetic facts of the f0 contour in Fataluku, comparing the behavior of f0 ...

The effects of focus on F0 contours and syllable durations of spoken Cantonese are investigated through a controlled experiment involving all the disyllabic tone pairs. Regardless of the tones, syllable durations in the vicinity of the on-focus syllable are lengthened in systematically varying rates. For F0 pattern, two approaches are compared: analysis of surface features from time-normalized ...

The present study explores the phonetic implementation of accentual H(igh) tone of the Akita dialect of Japanese, specifically its timing control. Lexical accent in the dialect is implemented as an eminence in F0. The conspicuous feature is that F0 does not fall sharply as in Tokyo Japanese. Two hypotheses are examined concerning the extent of the duration of the pitch summit. One is that the H...

This study investigates two factors related to the falling tune found in wh-questions in Maltese. It examines the alignment, of the H(igh) and L(ow) tone targets found in the early part of this tune in an attempt at providing a more definitive phonological analysis of the tune. Carefully controlled laboratory speech is used in an attempt at quantifying the alignment details. The study also addr...

Neonates prefer human speech to other nonlinguistic auditory stimuli. However, it remains an open question whether there are any conceptual consequences of words on object categorization in infants younger than 6 months. The current study examined the influence of words and tones on object categorization in forty-six 3- to 4-month-old infants. Infants were familiarized to different exemplars of...

This study investigates the underlying tonal pattern of pitch accent, the domain of tone interaction, and the prosodic structure of Northern Kyungsang Korean (NKK) by examining tone-syllable alignment and the realization of pitch accent in different tonal/prosodic contexts. Sixty-four sentences produced by six native speakers of NKK were digitized and f0 values of each syllable as well as the f...

This study presents an approach to the generation of American English intonation based on prescriptive rules that define the respective features of certain tone labels that in turn represent linguistically relevant F0 configurations. In accordance with the principles of the Tone Sequence Model the F0 contour is analyzed as a series of discrete target values that are connected by means of transi...

For emotional speech synthesis, a quantitative model giving a parametric representation of F0 contours is needed. Purpose: investigate quantitatively F0 characteristics of Mandarin speech in four basic emotions (anger, fear, joy, and sadness) and in neutral reading. Two approaches are compared: surface features analysis from time-normalized F0 contours analysis-by-synthesis of time-intact F0 co...