Automatic analysis of speech prosody in Dutch

Abstract

In this paper we present a publicly available tool for automatic analysis of speech prosody (AASP) in Dutch. Incorporating the state-of-the-art analytical frameworks, AASP enables users to analyze prosody at two levels from different theoretical perspectives. Holistically, by means of the Functional Principal Component Analysis (FPCA) it generates mathematical functions that capture changes in the shape of a pitch contour. The tool outputs the weights of principal components in a table for users to process in further statistical analysis. Structurally, AASP analyzes prosody in terms of prosodic events within the auto-segmental metrical framework, hypothesizing prosodic labels in accordance with Transcription of Dutch Intonation (ToDI) with accuracy comparable to similar tools for other languages. Published as a Docker container, the tool can be set up on various operating systems in only two steps. Moreover, the tool is accessed through a graphic user interface, making it accessible to users with limited programming skills