Publication

Abstract : This paper reports the results of an attempt to synthesize the lexical tones of the Mizo language. Firstly, the study reported in this paper attempts to confirm the findings of previous acoustic studies on Mizo tones. Secondly, using the parameters defined in the previous acoustic studies, the work reported in this paper synthesized Mizo tones and then confirmed the acceptability of the synthesized tones from native speakers of Mizo. The work reported in this paper confirms that (a) mean fundamental frequency (F0) alone cannot be a parameter to recognize Mizo tones; (b) mean F0 and tone slope (Fd) information integrated into synthesized Mizo tones elicit better identification and acceptance and (c) durational information is important for correct identification of rising tones in Mizo.