A computational model of prosody for Yorùbá text-to-speech synthesis

This work examines prosody modelling for the Standard Yorùbá (SY) language in the context of computer text-to-speech synthesis applications. The thesis of this research is that it is possible to develop a practical prosody model by using appropriate computational tools and techniques which combines acoustic data with an encoding of the phonological and phonetic knowledge provided by experts. Our prosody model is conceptualised around a modular holistic framework. The framework is implemented using the Relational Tree (R-Tree) techniques (Ehrich and Foith, 1976). R-Tree is a sophisticated data structure that provides a multi-dimensional description of a waveform. A Skeletal Tree (S-Tree) is first generated using algorithms based on the tone phonological rules of SY. Subsequent steps update the S-Tree by computing the numerical values of the prosody dimensions. To implement the intonation dimension, fuzzy control rules where developed based on data from native speakers of Yorùbá. The Classification And Regression Tree (CART) and the Fuzzy Decision Tree (FDT) techniques were tested in modelling the duration dimension. The FDT was selected based on its better performance. An important feature of our R-Tree framework is its flexibility in that it facilitates the independent implementation of the different dimensions of prosody, i.e. duration and intonation, using different techniques and their subsequent integration. Our approach provides us with a flexible and extendible model that can also be used to implement, study and explain the theory behind aspects of the phenomena observed in speech prosody

A review of Yorùbá Automatic Speech Recognition

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) has recorded appreciable progress both in technology and application.Despite this progress, there still exist wide performance gap between human speech recognition (HSR) and ASR which has inhibited its full adoption in real life situation.A brief review of research progress on Yorùbá Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is presented in this paper focusing of variability as factor contributing to performance gap between HSR and ASR with a view of x-raying the advances recorded, major obstacles, and chart a way forward for development of ASR for Yorùbá that is comparable to those of other tone languages and of developed nations.This is done through extensive surveys of literatures on ASR with focus on Yorùbá.Though appreciable progress has been recorded in advancement of ASR in the developed world, reverse is the case for most of the developing nations especially those of Africa.Yorùbá like most of languages in Africa lacks both human and materials resources needed for the development of functional ASR system much less taking advantage of its potentials benefits. Results reveal that attaining an ultimate goal of ASR performance comparable to human level requires deep understanding of variability factors

Sentiment Analysis in Digital Spaces: An Overview of Reviews

Sentiment analysis (SA) is commonly applied to digital textual data, revealing insight into opinions and feelings. Many systematic reviews have summarized existing work, but often overlook discussions of validity and scientific practices. Here, we present an overview of reviews, synthesizing 38 systematic reviews, containing 2,275 primary studies. We devise a bespoke quality assessment framework designed to assess the rigor and quality of systematic review methodologies and reporting standards. Our findings show diverse applications and methods, limited reporting rigor, and challenges over time. We discuss how future research and practitioners can address these issues and highlight their importance across numerous applications.Comment: 44 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables, 3 appendice

Selected papers from the 47th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

The papers in this volume were presented at the 47th Annual Conference on African Linguistics at UC Berkeley in 2016. The papers offer new descriptions of African languages and propose novel theoretical analyses of them. The contributions span topics in phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics and reflect the typological and genetic diversity of languages in Africa. Four papers in the volume examine Areal Features and Linguistic Reconstruction in Africa, and were presented at a special workshop on this topic held alongside the general session of ACAL

Theory and description in African Linguistics

The papers in this volume were presented at the 47th Annual Conference on African Linguistics at UC Berkeley in 2016. The papers offer new descriptions of African languages and propose novel theoretical analyses of them. The contributions span topics in phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics and reflect the typological and genetic diversity of languages in Africa. Four papers in the volume examine Areal Features and Linguistic Reconstruction in Africa, and were presented at a special workshop on this topic held alongside the general session of ACAL

The Afro-brazilian Martial Art of Capoeira: Cultural Healing and Identity

By the year 2050, racial and ethnic minorities are projected to become the rising majority accounting for more than 50% of the population in the United States, however minorities are consistently at greater risk for poorer health outcomes and at higher risk for trauma-related symptoms than their White counterparts. Although some individuals seek and access traditional mental health services, more than half of the individuals who have diagnosable conditions never obtain formal treatment. Within the past two decades, the American Psychological Association delineated Multicultural Guidelines that describe the need for interventions to not only adapt to culture, but to be congruent. Through the lens of Vélez-Agosto and colleagues Microcultural framework (2017), the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira is explored to better understand the meaningful cultural traditions therein, therapeutic and or healing aspects of the culturally-centered art, and salient aspects of identity for capoeristas, or capoeira practitioners. Narrative qualitative inquiry was utilized to interview capoeirstas from eight different groups, consisting of fifteen capoeira group leaders and twelve capoeira group members, for a total of 27 participants

Names on the internet: towards electronic socio-onom@stics

The Internet represents an abundant source material for linguistic research, which continues to pose new challenges and opportunities on how language is used by its speakers. Its personal naming system, for example, has remained largely unexplored. Of the many facets of names on the Internet awaiting closer scrutiny, the phenomenon of usernames is perhaps the most fundamental. This thesis investigates the role they play in online life, the most suitable methods to approach them, and how they compare with the names used offline and where their place is in onomastics in general. With people’s names inevitably connected with one or another aspect of identity, this work focuses on the relationship between usernames and online identities. The data has been gathered from a forum on the Russian-speaking sector of the Internet (RuNet) and comprises all registered usernames (676 at the time of collection) as well as an extensive and methodically selected sample of users’ conversations. As a general analytical framework, it utilises Garfinkel’s (1967) ethnomethodology, which conceptualises identity as a result of the ongoing interaction that people negotiate and achieve in everyday life rather than a set of inherent inner qualities. More specifically, the following methodological tools devised by Sacks (e.g. 1995, 1984a, 1984b) have been used to perform the analysis: Membership Categorisation Analysis (MCA) to categorise the usernames of the forum participants, and Conversation Analysis (CA), to observe how usernames contribute to the construction of individual identities. Finally, the concept of Stance, as presented by Du Bois (2007), has been used as a lens to identify relevant evidence in the conversation samples. The analysis has demonstrated the need for a systematic categorisation of usernames. The way in which they associate sets of attributes, facilitates the allocation of named entities as members of certain categories of persons. Both linguistic and typographic elements of usernames contribute to how they are perceived and what impression they create. It is also argued that usernames have an important role to play in the active and ongoing construction of individual identities. The study concludes that CMC participants operate their usernames as meaningful linguistic devices to construct and co-construct each other’s identities. CA and MCD are confirmed to be relevant methods to analyse onomastic data. This study has generated a reliable body of evidence for the assertion that usernames are far from meaningless, and demonstrates, moreover, how their meanings are established. In so doing, it constitutes an important contribution to onomastic theory with the potential to shed new light on personal naming in general

Cognitive and Affective Evaluation in Forming Unique Destination Image Among Tourists Visiting Malacca

Since Melaka is positioned as Historical City inaugurated by UNESCO in 2008, the study suggests unique image as a new component of image associations. A number of overseas tourists were selected as samples . Results showed that unique image was significantly constructed and affected by cognitive and affective evaluations. Cognitive evaluation was significantly affected by the types of information source, while affective evaluation was affected significantly by social psychological motivations. The research proves that Melaka has fulfilled the requirements to differentiate the city as a unique tourist destination. The positioning of Melaka as truly Malaysia and World heritage should be translated into the rational benefit of encountering unspoiled historical side and multi-racial living cultures. Positive unique image creation leads to intention to revisit and recommend others experiencing the world heritage and history of Melaka