Influence of F0 on Vietnamese syllable perception

Understanding and managing tonal characteristics of Vietnamese language is one of the most difficult aspects in Vietnamese speech processing. However, at present, there is no common agreement about the influence of fundamental frequency (F0) on the perception of Vietnamese syllables. Thus, instead of analyzing the F0 of a limited number of Vietnamese syllables like other methods found in literature, this paper will present a new methodology based on, first the synthesis of arbitrary syllables, and secondly perception tests. This approach permits us to understand and define more precisely the role of F0 in the characterisation of Vietnamese tones.