Research Article Open Access

Effects of Environmental Noises on Fundamental Frequency Contours of Thai Expressive Speech

Suphattharachai Chomphan1 and Chutarat Chompunth2
  • 1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Si Racha, Kasetsart University, 199 M.6, Tungsukhla, Si Racha, Chonburi, 20230, Thailand
  • 2 School of Social and Environmental Development, National Institute of Development Administration, 118 M.3, Serithai Road, Klong-Chan, Bangkapi, Bangkok, 10240, Thailand

Abstract

Problem statement: The expressive speech of Thai had been studied for a short period of time. An important feature of speech was fundamental frequency (F0) which defines the human speech prosody. It could be used to distinguish the difference between several types of expressive speech. The environmental noises affect the F0 contour for Thai dialects as concluded in the previous study. The study prosodic information of Thai speech with various speaking styles and several types of noises had not been conducted. Approach: Four different types of speaking styles were used; meanwhile four types of environmental noises were recorded with different levels of power. They were subsequently mixed together. The F0 contours from different types of speaking styles, different types of noises and different levels of noises were extracted. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between the F0 contour of clean speech and the noise-corrupted speech was calculated. Results: In the experiments, four types of noises were included train, factory, car and air conditioner. Each type of speaking style included 10 samples of 10 utterances of male and female speech. Five levels of noises were varied from 0-20 dB compared with the clean speech. It could be notified that the effects of distinguishing types of noises were different. Four different types of speaking styles were also caused the differences in RMSEs. Conclusion: The recorded noises deteriorate the F0 contours for all types of speaking styles in Thai.

American Journal of Applied Sciences
Volume 9 No. 8, 2012, 1237-1241

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2012.1237.1241

Submitted On: 24 February 2012 Published On: 28 June 2012

How to Cite: Chomphan, S. & Chompunth, C. (2012). Effects of Environmental Noises on Fundamental Frequency Contours of Thai Expressive Speech. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 9(8), 1237-1241. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2012.1237.1241

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Keywords

  • Root Mean Square Error (RMSE)
  • among several types
  • recorded noises deteriorate
  • simulated noises deteriorate
  • speech database