Auditions
E-3
Guidelines for Optimal TI Speech
E.2.2
Recording Script
If you have to create a recording script, keep the following considerations in
mind.
Vocabulary—Start with a list of the desired vocabulary, which is generally
provided by the customer.
Context (Pronunciation )—When dealing with context pronunciation, the
following principles must be considered:
-
Sentence Frame—The beginning and end of the target vocabulary word
must not be altered by the sounds in adjacent words. To accomplish this,
it is best to add a neutral sound such as schwa (pronounced as
uh) on
either side of the target word.
-
Position of Target Word—A word spoken in isolation is approximately
twice as long as the same word occurring in a sentence (except in final
position, where duration is the same as in isolation).
Try to minimize the occurrence of the target word in utterance–final
position, since the rate of vocal-fold vibration decreases as an utterance
is terminated, resulting in partial unvoicing and vocal (glottal) fry, which
sounds like a squeaky door opening or closing. The first sound in
utterance-initial position, especially a voiced stop ([b,d,g] as in
ball, doll,
and
gall), may also be distorted. Put a neutral vowel before the first sound
in the utterance such as
a ball uh, a doll uh, a gall uh.
-
Pitch Contour (Intonation)—Put the target word in different positions in the
sentence or phrase for several versions of the word with different intona-
tion patterns (such as rising, level, falling). For example:
It’s a one again (falling contour)
Is it a one again? (rising contour)
It’s a one, a two, a three. . .(level or continuation contour)
To cause the speaker to use different intonation patterns, sometimes it is
useful to put the target word utterance-final position and then to add extra
words onto the end. For example, to get a
continuation contour (see
above) as in
It’s Saturday. . ., add words such as three o’clock P.M. so that
the utterance becomes,
It’s Saturday (1s) three o’clock P.M.
Summary of Contents for MSP53C691
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