In this paper, we propose a new model for synthesizing fundamental frequency (F0) contours using a stylization and a neural network learning method. The F0 contour is described as the superposition of 4 layered features; global tune, word pitch bias, lexical tone, and the syllabic pitch pattern. We rstly stylize the F0 contour of speech material, and analyze stylized data by statistical approac...

This paper presents an approach to the analysis of prosody in French discourse, based on a prediction of the unmarked default intonation matching the lexical and syntactic properties of the sequence. By confronting this default intonation with the actual intonation used by the speaker, all marked intonation elements can be identified. The prediction of default intonation takes into account word...

For more than 100 years, clinicians have noted that patients with nonfluent aphasia are capable of singing words that they cannot speak. Thus, the use of melody and rhythm has long been recommended for improving aphasic patients' fluency, but it was not until 1973 that a music-based treatment [Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT)] was developed. Our ongoing investigation of MIT's efficacy has provi...

Melodic intonation therapy (MIT) is a treatment program for the rehabilitation of aphasic patients with speech production disorders. We report a case of severe chronic non-fluent aphasia unresponsive to several years of conventional therapy that showed a marked improvement following intensive 9-day training on the Japanese version of MIT (MIT-J). The purpose of this study was to verify the effi...

The melodic consonance of a sequence of tones is explained using the overtone series: the overtones form “flow lines” that link the tones melodically; the strength of these flow lines determines the melodic consonance. This hypothesis admits of psychoacoustical and neurophysiological interpretations that fit well with the place theory of pitch perception. The hypothesis is used to create a mode...

UNLABELLED Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a motor speech disorder in which changes to segmental as well as suprasegmental aspects lead to the perception of a foreign accent in speech. This paper focuses on one suprasegmental aspect, namely that of intonation. It provides an in-depth analysis of the intonation system of four speakers with FAS with the aim of establishing the intonational chang...

This paper argues that the linguistic forms of intonation that have scope over the whole sentence are morphemic, and should therefore be classified as suprasegmental sentence particles. In defense of this hypothesis, a range of studies are reviewed which argue that intonation expresses discourse meanings (or has grammatical functions), and that these meanings (or functions) are comparable to th...