Inversion of articulatory-to-acoustic transformation in the vocal tract by a computer-sorting technique

Autor: B. Atal, M. V. Mathews, J. J. Chang, John W. Tukey
Rok vydání: 1978
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 63(5)
ISSN: 0001-4966
Popis: We present numerical methods for studying the relationship between the shape of the vocal tract and its acoustic output. For a stationary vocal tract, the articulatory-acoustic relationship can be represented as a multidimensional function of a multidimensional argument: y=f(x), where x, y are vectors describing the vocal-tract shape and the resulting acoustic output, respectively. Assuming that y may be computed for any x, we develop a procedure for inverting f(x). Inversion by computer sorting consists of computing y for many values of x and sorting the resulting (y,x) pairs into a convenient order according to y; x for a given y is then obtained by looking up y in the sorted data. Application of this method for determining parameters of an articulatory model corresponding to a given set of formant frequencies is presented. A method is also described for finding articulatory regions (fibers) which map into a single point in the acoustic space. The local nature of f(x) is determined by linearization in a small neighborhood. Larger regions are explored by extending the linear neighborhoods in small steps. This method was applied for the study of compensatory articulation. Sounds produced by various articulations along a fiber were synthesized and were compared by informal listening tests. These tests show that, in many cases of interest, a given sound could be produced by many different vocal-tract shapes.
Databáze: OpenAIRE