Coupling Phonology and Phonetics in a Constraint-Based Gestural Model

Abstract

An implemented approach which couples a constraint-based phonology component with an articulatory speech synthesizer is proposed. Articulatory gestures ensure a tight connection between both components, as they comprise both physical-phonetic and phonological aspects. The phonological modelling of e.g. syllabification and phonological processes such as German final devoicing is expressed in the constraint logic programming language CUF. Extending CUF by arithmetic constraints allows the simultaneous description of both phonology and phonetics. Thus declarative lexicalist theories of grammar such as HPSG may be enriched up to the level of detailed phonetic realisation. Initial acoustic demonstrations show that our approach is in principle capable of synthesizing full utterances in a linguistically motivated fashion.