Discrimination of Consonantal Attributes by CEERI Vocoder

Abstract

The performance of the 16 Channel CEERI Vocoder was evaluated by a new technique due to Voiers and known as the Diagonostic Rhyme Test. By this method the discriminability among the six elementary attributes of voicing, nasality, sustention, sibilation, graveness and compactness of the consonant phonemes are evaluated. The observations for the CEERI vocoder are briefly as follows: (1) The attributes compactness, nasality and sibilation are discriminated better than voicing, sustention and graveness, (2) Consonants in conjunction with back vowels are comprehended better than with front vowels; and (3) Low pitched speech sounds are processed better than high pitched sounds. The performance data for the CEERI vocoder and typical American vocoders (of 172 vintage) are compared with unprocessed speech.