Session Production II:Production II: Vocal Tract Modelling
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| Production II-1 |
3D AUDITORY-ARTICULATORY MODELING OF THE LARYNGEAL CONSTRICTOR MECHANISM
Scott Moisik, University of Victoria John H. Esling, University of Victoria Paper File Additional Files |
| The vocal tract is reinterpreted in the context of the laryngeal articulator model, which integrates the functions of the laryngeal and oral components of the vocal tract. To account for the action of pharyngeal-resonator reduction, for constricted phonation types, and for the interaction of glottal pitch with the laryngeal constrictor mechanism, a three-dimensional model has been developed on the basis of auditory parameters and extrapolation from articulatory data sources. A critical aspect of the proposed model is the functioning of the aryepiglottic sphincter, formed by the aryepiglottic folds at the upper border of the larynx articulating towards the epiglottis. The novel feature of this model is the inclusion of a separate and ‘reversed’ action of the laryngeal component. | |
| Production II-2 |
Simulation of Vocal Tract Growth for Articulatory Speech Synthesis
Peter Birkholz, Institute for Computer Science, University of Rostock Bernd J. Kröger, Department of Phoniatrics, Pedaudiology, and Communication Disorders, University Hospital Aachen Paper File |
| We present a three-dimensional articulatory model of the vocal tract with the capability to simulate growth from infancy to adulthood. This model is intended to be applied for the articulatory synthesis of children's speech and the study of speech acquisition. To generate the vocal tract shape for a given age and sex, we resize and translate the anatomic structures of an adult reference vocal tract according to natural growth patterns. Furthermore, we discuss the transformation of the articulatory state of the reference vocal tract to the articulation for a vocal tract with a changed anatomy. The articulatory transformation was examined for the vocal tract of an 11-year-old boy by means of six vowels. To reproduce the formant frequencies measured for children of that age, it is not enough to scale the articulation (especially the tongue shape) analogous to the changes of the palatal and pharyngeal length. | |
| Production II-3 |
PREDICTION OF THE ABILITY OF RECONSTITUTED VOCAL TRACTS OF FOSSILS TO PRODUCE SPEECH
Jean GRANAT, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris Louis-Jean Boë, GIPSA - ICP Université Stendhal, Grenoble Pierre BADIN, GIPSA - ICP INPG, Grenoble David POCHIC, ENSERG, Grenoble Jean-Louis HEIM, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris Evelyne PEYRE, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris Roland BENOIT, Université de Paris V, Paris Paper File |
| This work is part of a project in the quest of the origin of speech. From classical bony landmarks of the head and jaw used in anthropology, and using a generic model of the vocal tract, we applied the prediction of geometric limits of the vocal tract for modern man to fossils covering a period from 10 ka until 2 Ma (Paleolithic period). We conclude that all the reconstituted vocal tracts could produce the same variety of speech sounds that can produced by modern humans. However, we do not know to what extent ancient humans mastered the control skills needed to produce speech. | |