Abstract
Intonation contouring of synthetic speech improves both intelligibility and comprehension [Slowiaczek and Nusbaum, to appear], while flattening appears to interfere with speech perception [Larkey and Danley (1983)]. Given the proven importance of F0, several problems remain in defining the domain of prosodic contour. Among the issues are pauses and intonational domains. These are particularly critical in an unlimited text‐to‐speech system where input is often unpunctuated long complex sentences. This paper reports on current work to determine pause structure of synthetic speech as a component of specifying the domain of prosodic contouring. The system uses a deterministic bottom‐up parser to give a syntactic analysis of a sentence. Based on this and other information, a pause structure is computed algorithmically. The pause‐parsed structure then serves as input for later stages in the application of F0. Syntactically based pause insertion is compared with a simple function/content word‐based pause‐insertion algorithm. We give evidence that the insertion of pauses based on a syntactic parse increases naturalness.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
