Specifying intonation from context for speech synthesis

This paper presents a theory and a computational implementation for generating prosodically appropriate synthetic speech in response to database queries. Proper distinctions of contrast and emphasis are expressed in an intonation contour that is synthesized by rule under the control of a grammar, a discourse model, and a knowledge base. The theory is based on Combinatory Categorial Grammar, a formalism which easily integrates the notions of syntactic constituency, semantics, prosodic phrasing and information structure. Results from our current implementation demonstrate the system's ability to generate a variety of intonational possibilities for a given sentence depending on the discourse context. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MSCIS-94-37. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/224 Specifying Intonation from Context for Speech Synthesis MS-CIS-94-37 LINC LAB 273 Scott Prevost Mark Steedman University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science Computer and Information Science Department Philadelphia, PA 19104-6389