Intonation

In eSpeak NG (eSpeak) standard intonation model, a “tune” is applied to each clause depending on its punctuation. Other intonation models may be used for some languages, such as tone languages.

Named tunes are defined in the text file phsource/intonation. This file must be compiled for use by eSpeak by using:

espeak-ng --compile-intonations

Clauses

The tunes which are used for a language can be specified by using a tunes statement in a voice file in espeak-ng-data/voices. e.g.:

tunes   s1  c1  q1  e1

It’s parameters are four tune names which are used for clauses which end in:

  1. Full-stop.
  2. Comma.
  3. Question mark.
  4. Exclamation mark.

A clause consists of the following parts:

  1. Pre-head are any unstressed syllables before the first stressed syllable.
  2. Head is the part from the first stressed syllable up to the last syllable before the nucleus.
  3. Nucleus is stressed syllable which is the focus of the clause. eSpeak chooses the last stressed syllable of the clause.
  4. Tail are the syllables after the nucleus.

Tune Definitions

Here is an example tune definition from the file phsource/intonation:

tune s1
prehead   46 57
headenv   fall 16
head       4 80 55 -8 -5
headextend 0 63 38 13 0
nucleus  fall 70 18 24 12
nucleus0 fall 64 8
endtune

tune

tune <tune name> Starts the definition of a tune. The tune name can be used in a tunes statements in voice files.

endtune

endtune <tune name> Ends the definition of a tune.

prehead

prehead <start pitch> <end pitch> Gives the pitch path for any series of unstressed syllables before the first stressed syllable.

headenv

headenv <envelope> <height> Gives the pitch envelope which is used for stressed syllables in the head (before the nucleus), including onset and headlast syllables if these are specified.

height

height gives a pitch range for the envelope.

head <steps> <start pitch> <end pitch> <unstressed start> <unstressed end>

start pitch give a pitch path for the stressed syllables of the head.

steps is the maximum number of stressed syllables for which this applies. If there are additional stressed syllables, then the headextend statement is used for them.

unstressed start give a pitch path for unstressed syllables between two stressed syllables. Their values are relative to the pitch of the previous stressed syllable. Values are usually negative, meaning that the unstressed syllables have lower pitch than the previous stressed syllable.

headextend