Analysis and modeling of f_0 contours of portuguese utterances based on the command-response model

This paper describes the results of a joint study on the applicability of the command-response model to F0 contours of European Portuguese, with an aim to use it in a TTS system. Analysis-by-Synthesis of observed F0 contours of a number of utterances by five native speakers indicated that the model with provisions for both positive and negative accent commands applies quite well to all the utterances tested. The estimated commands are found to be closely related to the linguistic contents of the utterances. One of the features of European Portuguese found in utterances by the majority of speakers is the occurrence of a negative accent command at certain phrase-initial positions, and its perceptual significance is examined by an informal listening test, using stimuli synthesized both with and without negative accent commands.