TOWARDS A PROMINENCE-BASED SYNTHESIS SYSTEM

The structure of a synthesis system is described that uses prominence as a central parameter. A definition of prominence suitable for this a pplication is given. For the empirical foundation the reliability of p rominence ratings by human listeners is assessed. These ratings were c ompared with acoustic data on F-0 and duration. A linear relationship between ratings and parameter values was found. Two algorithms to tran sform prominence values to prosodic parameters are briefly described a nd evaluated. The application of prominence to the synthesis of focal accents is demonstrated. The results indicate the validity of the prom inence based approach as an interface between linguistics and acoustic s.