Acoustic Phonetics Investigating physical properties of speech sounds.
Acoustic Phonetics Investigating physical properties of speech sounds From chapter 7, Rogers (2000)
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Transcript of Acoustic Phonetics Investigating physical properties of speech sounds From chapter 7, Rogers (2000)
Acoustic Phonetics
Investigating physical properties of speech sounds
From chapter 7, Rogers (2000)
Reviving Sonus 2
Speech Sound Representation Reconsidered
Articulatory phonetic approach: Describing sounds depending on how they are producedProblems of this approach Representation is only in terms of symbols Sounds are not like
that in reality It’s not reflected that some sounds are more confusing each othe
r when perceived while others are not Eg) i/e vs. a/k s/f vs. s/m
So we need another way of describing speech sounds
Reviving Sonus 3
Acoustic representation of speech sounds
Representing sounds as they are Visual other than symbolic
representation Depending more upon perception than production or articulationPhysical properties are analyzedSimilarities and differences of sounds are disclosed
Reviving Sonus 4
Acoustic definition of sound
Variation in air pressureMovements of air particlesAn audible disturbance of a medium produced by a source The source: any object that vibrates
Eg) musical instruments, human vocal cords, microphone The medium: any elastic object that carries vibration
Eg) air, water
Reviving Sonus 5
Advantages of acoustic representation
Real/physical mechanism of speech communication is represented No convention, no confusion, no controversyGradual change of sounds are shown Example) How loud a sound isSmall variations are shownHelpful for understanding how computers synthesize speech and how speech recognition works
Reviving Sonus 6
What to represent?
Three aspects sounds that can differ Pitch Loudness Quality (Length)
Reviving Sonus 7
How to represent acoustically?
Sound is air particle movementsThe best and agreed way of expressing air particle movements:Waveform
Another necessary way of representing sound:Spectrum
Waveforms
Reviving Sonus 9
Waveform properties
Simple harmonic movement + Time elapse WaveformIndividual particles move only backward and forward
Reviving Sonus 10
No force
Initial force
Elasticity
Inertia
Elasticity
Time
Displacement
Air particle movement
Reviving Sonus 11
Simple Waveform
Reviving Sonus 12
Speech sound properties shown in waveforms
Differentiation of sounds Sounds are different, which is crucial in human
speech as a communication method
Ways in which sounds can differ Perceptually: Pitch, Loudness, Quality Acoustically: Frequency, Amplitude, Phase
Waveform shows differences in Acoustic correlate of Loudness Amplitude Acoustic correlate of Pitch Frequency
Reviving Sonus 13
Amplitude representing Loudness
Time (s)0 0.05
-0.5
0.5
0
Time (s)0 0.05
-1
1
0
Time (s)0 0.05
-0.5
0.5
0
Time (s)0 0.05
-1
1
0
(a)
(b)
amplitu
de
Reviving Sonus 14
Amplitude (cntd.)
Air pressure fluctuationThe extent of the maximum variation in air pressure from normal during a soundUnit: Bel, Decibel(dB; 1/10 of Bel), Bark dB: Common logarithm of power ratios
Twice amplitude is not heard as twice loudLoud sound: particles move farther and more rapidly
Reviving Sonus 15
Frequency representing Pitch
Time (s)0 0.05
-0.5
0.5
0
Time (s)0 0.05
-0.5
0.5
0
(a)
(b)
SONUS reviving 16
Frequency (cntd.)
The rate at which sound source vibrates Sound sources: tuning forks, vocal cords, etcUnits: Hz, cps (cycle per second)Depending upon Length of the pendulum Length of tuning fork prongsF(requency) = 1/T(period)
Reviving Sonus 17
Frequency (cntd.)
Standard A frequency: 440 HzOctave: a note which is exactly twice the frequency of another note Eg) A(440Hz), A’(880Hz), A’’(1760Hz)Audible Frequency Human: 20Hz(or16Hz) – 20KHz Bats: 20KHz – 100KHzFastest telephone vibration: 35KHzMost of the human speech sound frequency: below 8KHz
Reviving Sonus 18
Frequency (cntd.)
Pitch and frequency are not in linear relationship Only in the low frequency, fairly linear 600-700Hz difference sounds greater
than 3600-3700Hz difference
Reviving Sonus 19
Phase difference
Time (s)0 0.05
-0.5
0.5
0
Time (s)0 0.05
-0.5
0.5
0
Reviving Sonus 20
Phase (cntd.)
Phase differences cause different waveforms
But
Human ears do not perceive phase differences
Reviving Sonus 21
Waveform is not sufficient..
Two sounds with the same pitch and loudness can still differ Example) Violin A vs. Piano A Example) [i] vs. [a]
Another way of representation neededSpectrum
Reviving Sonus 22
More about waveform first..
To know about spectrum and its representation of quality, we need to know more about waveform
Reviving Sonus 23
Types of Waveforms:Pure tones vs. Complex waves
Most sounds, including human speech, sources produce complex vibrationsPure tone: single harmonic motion (SHM), with only one frequencyComplex wave: more than one harmonic motion, multiple frequency Pure tone + pure tone of the same frequency
and phase another pure tone Pure tone + pure tones of different frequency
a complex tone
Reviving Sonus 24
Pure tone(Simple Wave,
simple harmonic motion,Sinusoid,
Sine wave)
Reviving Sonus 25
Complex wave
Time (s)0 0.05
-2.499
2.499
0
100 Hz + 200 Hz + 300 Hz
Reviving Sonus 26
Complex wave
Time (s)0 0.05
-2.499
2.499
0
Time (s)0 0.0195395
-0.1355
0.1318
0
[a] production by a female speaker
Reviving Sonus 27
Types of Waveform:Repetitive vs. non-repetitive wave
Strictly Repetitive (periodic): sine wave, ideal soundsVirtually Repetitive (periodic): vowels, sonorantsNon-repetitive (aperiodic): obstruents white noise (most complex) click
Reviving Sonus 28
Periodic vs non-periodic wave
Time (s)0 0.05
-2.499
2.499
0
Time (s)0 0.0195395
-0.1355
0.1318
0
Time (s)0 0.0732916
-0.08255
0.08606
0
Time (s)0 0.0732916
-0.08255
0.08606
0
Aperiodic [s] Periodic wave [a]
Reviving Sonus 29
Limitation of Waveform Representation
Sound can be heard in 3 different way Loudness, Pitch, Quality
Quality can’t be represented directly in waveforms A new way of representation needed Spectrum
Spectrum
Reviving Sonus 31
Background Knowledge on Spectrum
Sound waves can be either simple or complex Simple: sinusoid Complex: Combined simple waves with
different frequency Sound quality can be determined by the way
such simple waves combine into a complex wave
If a complex wave can be split into each simple wave we can see the secret
Reviving Sonus 32
Waveform and Spectrum(100Hz + 200Hz + 300Hz )
Time (s)0 0.05
-5.354
5.354
0
Time (s)0 0.025
-5.354
5.354
0
Wave
4
2
200 300100
Spectrum
Hz
Reviving Sonus 33
An Example of Spectrum
Reviving Sonus 34
Formants shown in spectrumFrequency component(s) with boosted energyFormant frequency: Its frequencyReason for formant shaping: Filtering function in vocal tractDecisive aspect of sound qualityFor vowels three formants (F1, F2, F3) are especially important for their distinction
Reviving Sonus 35
An Example of Formant :
Vowel []
F1
F2
F3
Reviving Sonus 36
An Example of Formant:Vowel []
F1F2
F3
0123456
50 300
550
80010
50
1300
1550
1800
2050
2300
2550
2800
3050
3300
3550
3800
4050
Hz
Am
plitu
de
Reviving Sonus 37
Disadvantages of Spectrum Representation
Less intuitive X-axis denotes frequency level No time varying representationHard to see interaction with WaveformsThus, a new way of representation needed Spectrogram
Spectrogram & its reading
Reviving Sonus 39
What is spectrogram?
Begin to be used since 1940sAnother representation of frequency domain analysisThe most popular way of representing spectral information3 dimensional representation X-axis: Time Y-axis: Frequency Darkness (or color): Energy
Reviving Sonus 40
Waveform & Spectrogram aligned
Reviving Sonus 41
Spectrogram example (color resolution of word “compute”)
Reviving Sonus 42
Spectrogram example (grayscale of word “compute”)
Reviving Sonus 43
Types of spectrogram
Wideband spectrogram better time resolution
Narrowband spectrogram better frequency resolution
Reviving Sonus 44
Wideband vs. Narrowbandspectrograms of the question "Is Pat sad, or mad?" The 5th, 10th and 15th harmonics have been marked by white squares
in two of the vowels
Reviving Sonus 45
Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages Time alignment
Disadvantages Less reliable than waveform
Reviving Sonus 46
Vowel Spectrogram
Formant frequencies are critical cues for vowel distinctionF1: Height high vowels: low F1
F2: Backness back vowels: low F2
Reviving Sonus 47
Examples of formant frequencies of English monophthongs
F3F3 290
0255
0249
0249
0264
0238
0230
0250
0239
0
F2F2 2250
1900
1770
1660
1100
1030
870 1500
1190
F1F1 280 400 550 690 710 450 310 900 640
Reviving Sonus 48
"heed, hid, head, had, hod, hawed, hood, who'd" (a male speaker, American English)
From http://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics
Reviving Sonus 49
Consonant Spectrogram
General Acoustic structure more complicated
than vowels Adjacent sounds (especially vowels)
convey important information locus High frequency characteristics
especially for fricatives and affricates
Reviving Sonus 50
What is LOCUS
Information of formant transition from vowels into obstruents or from obstruents into vowelsThe target frequency that each formant transition is heading toward as an obstruction is made, or the frequency the transition comes as the obstruction is releasedThe characteristic of the consonantal place and manner roughly the same in different vowel contexts
Reviving Sonus 51
Stops
General Fairly distinct locus for each place Burst Silence during the closure (only at
syllable onset position) Virtually no difference during the
closure
Reviving Sonus 52
Stops (cntd.)
Voicing distinction voiced: vertical striations for voiced
sounds, less abrupt burst, frequently weakened to be like fricatives or approximants
voiceless: generally abrupt burst at higher frequency area
Reviving Sonus 53
Stops (cntd.)
Place distinction bilabial
relatively low F2, F3 locus rising into and falling out of vowel
weak and spread vertical lines alveolar
F2 locus about 1800 Hz Strong vertical lines
velar Velar pinch: vowels F2, F3 merging often double burst long formant transitions
Reviving Sonus 54
Stops (cntd.)
Manner distinction Silence duration, VOT, Following V F0
silence VOT F0
Aspirated short long high
Tense ’ long short high
Lax mid mid low
Reviving Sonus 55
Examples -- “a bab, a dad, a gag”
Reviving Sonus 56
Place dependent loci
Reviving Sonus 57
Fricatives
General Random noise pattern especially in high frequency r
egions Place distinction
Labiodental [f, v]: rising locus into the following vowel Dental []: major energy above 6000Hz Alveolar [s, z]: major energy above 4000Hz Alveopalatal []: major energy above 2000Hz Glottal [h]: the trace of formant frequencies of neighbouring
vowels
Reviving Sonus 58
Fricatives (cntd.)
Weak vs. strong Strong []: darker bands Weak []: spread and fainter
Voiced [ ]: often so weak and confused with nasals or approximants
Cues to tell [] from []: higher formants of [] fall into adjacent vowels
Reviving Sonus 59
Example – “fie, thigh, sigh, shy”
Reviving Sonus 60
Example – “ever, weather, fizzer, pleasure”
Reviving Sonus 61
Nasals
General Formants similar to vowels but fainter Very low F1 (about 250Hz), F2 (about
2500Hz), and F3 (about 3250Hz)
Place distinction bilabial []: downward F2, F3 locus alveolar []: less amount of F2 transition velar [ ]: velar pinch
Reviving Sonus 62
Examples -- “a Pam, a tan, a kang”
Reviving Sonus 63
Liquids & Approximants
General Formants similar to vowels but fainter
(especially at high frequency regions) Approximately F1(250Hz), F2(1200Hz),
F3(2400Hz) Slow formant movements
Reviving Sonus 64
Liquids & Approximants(cntd.)
Phone specific properties Labial glide [w]:
very low F1, F2 (600-1000Hz|) and gets too close to each
relatively low F3 rapid falloff of spectral amplitude (formant
movements) Palatal glide [y]:
extremely low F1 extremely high F2, F3
Reviving Sonus 65
Liquids & Approximants(cntd.)
Phone specific properties (cntd.) Flap []: soft burst, short duration Retroflex []:
F3 dipping down close to F2 General lowering of F3, F4
Lateral []: Low F1, F2 (approx. F1 250Hz, F2 1200Hz) usually substantial energy in the high F region
Reviving Sonus 66
Example – “led, red, wed, yell”
Reviving Sonus 67
Final remarks on spectrogram
Spectrogram is not the only cue for acoustic distinction of speech sounds.When there is a mismatch between waveform & spectrogram, the waveform is more reliable in general.
Reviving Sonus 68
References & Links
http://cslu.cse.ogi.edu/tutordemos/SpectrogramReading/spectrogram_reading.htmlhttp://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics/VowelsandConsonants/coursehttp://www.cs.indiana.edu/~port/teach/306/speech.acoustics.htmlhttp://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/courses/spsci/b203/week2-5.pdf