The Effects of Modulating Fundamental Frequency and Speech Rate on the Intelligibility, Communication Efficiency, and Perceived Naturalness of Synthetic Speech.
The Effects of Modulating Fundamental Frequency and Speech Rate on the Intelligibility, Communication Efficiency, and Perceived Naturalness of Synthetic Speech.
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DOI：
10.1044/2019_ajslp-msc18-18-0052
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发表时间：
2019-07
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Jennifer M. Vojtech;J. Noordzij;G. Cler;C. Stepp
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jennifer M. Vojtech;J. Noordzij;G. Cler;C. Stepp
目的研究基频（f0）和语音速率对合成语音的自然度、可懂度和通信效率的影响。方法通过语音合成器生成16个不同韵律内容的句子。改变这些句子的f 0轮廓和语速以产生4个刺激集：（a）具有固定f 0水平的正常语速，（B）具有固定f 0水平的慢语速，（c）具有韵律自然f 0变化的正常语速，和（d）具有韵律不自然f 0变化的正常语速。16名听众提供了这些刺激的正字法transanimation和自然的判断。结果f0变化的句子比f0固定的句子更自然。相反，具有固定f0水平的句子比具有f0变化的句子表现出更高的可理解性。语速不影响清晰度的刺激与一个固定的f0水平。通信效率是最高的句子在正常的速度和固定的f0水平。结论句子级f0变化增加了合成语音的自然度，无论变化是否是韵律自然的。然而，这些f0变化降低了可懂度。有证据表明，在合成语音的自然度和可懂度之间存在权衡，这可能会影响未来的语音合成设计。补充材料https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8847833。
Purpose This study investigated how modulating fundamental frequency (f0) and speech rate differentially impact the naturalness, intelligibility, and communication efficiency of synthetic speech. Method Sixteen sentences of varying prosodic content were developed via a speech synthesizer. The f0 contour and speech rate of these sentences were altered to produce 4 stimulus sets: (a) normal rate with a fixed f0 level, (b) slow rate with a fixed f0 level, (c) normal rate with prosodically natural f0 variation, and (d) normal rate with prosodically unnatural f0 variation. Sixteen listeners provided orthographic transcriptions and judgments of naturalness for these stimuli. Results Sentences with f0 variation were rated as more natural than those with a fixed f0 level. Conversely, sentences with a fixed f0 level demonstrated higher intelligibility than those with f0 variation. Speech rate did not affect the intelligibility of stimuli with a fixed f0 level. Communication efficiency was highest for sentences produced at a normal rate and a fixed f0 level. Conclusions Sentence-level f0 variation increased naturalness ratings of synthesized speech, whether the variation was prosodically natural or not. However, these f0 variations reduced intelligibility. There is evidence of a trade-off in naturalness and intelligibility of synthesized speech, which may impact future speech synthesis designs. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8847833.