LT1 - release 1.0 - September 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Lithuanian male voice for the MBROLA synthesizer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Description of the Lithuanian diphone database -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Lithuanian diphone database is built on the basis of 34 vowels, 57 consonants and pause (92 in total). The voice of A. S. Girdenis was used. Vowels Stressed and unstressed vowels are treated to be different phonemes. Short unstressed vowels are denoted with a single small letter, e.g. "a". Short stressed vowels are denoted with a single capital letter, e.g. "A". Long unstressed vowels are denoted with a double small letter, e.g. "aa". Long vowels stressed with falling accent are denoted with two letters, e.g. "Aa". Long vowels stressed with rising accent are denoted with two letters, e.g. "aA". Long vowel /e/ is denoted with two letters "ea". Long vowel /ė/ is denoted with two letters "ee". Phoneme Examples Transcription English translation i ikona i k o n A icon e elektra e l' e k t r A electricity a ašis a S' I s axis o opozicija o p o z' I ts' i j' a opposition u ugnis u g' n' I s fire I iždas I Z d a s treasury E testas; kiaulė t' E s t a s; k E W l' ee test; pig A aš; laikas A S; l A J k a s I; time O opera O p' e r a opera U upė; zuikis U p' ee; z U J k' i s river; hare ii pyragas p ii r aA g a s pie Ii įtampa Ii t a m p a voltage iI dydis d' iI d' i s size ie diena d' ie n A day Ie pienas p' Ie n a s milk iE dievas d' iE v a s god ee mėsa m' ee s A meat Ee mėta m' Ee t a mint eE tėtis t' eE t' i s dad ea lęšiukas l' ea S' U k a s crystalline lens Ea spręsti; elnias s' p' r' Ea s' t' i; Ea l' n' e s to solve; deer eA ežeras eA Z' e r a s lake aa žąsis Z aa s' I s goose Aa ąžuolas, amžius Aa Z uo l a s, Aa m' Z' u s oak, century aA asilas aA s' i l a s donkey oo oda oo d A skin Oo oras Oo r a s air oO sodas s oO d a s garden uo uola uo l A rock Uo uoga Uo g a berry uO šuo S uO dog uu ūmėdė uu m' ee d' eE russule Uu grūdas g r Uu d a s corn uU ūsas uU s a s moustache -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consonants The symbol ' (apostrophe, ASCII 39), written after the consonant symbol, denotes palatalisation. Most consonants come in pairs, "hard" (non-palatalised) and "soft" (palatalised). Consonants included into mixed diphthongs that are stressed with rising accent are denoted with capital letter, e.g. "N". Sound similar to English fricative in the word "ship" is denoted with capital letter "S". Sound similar to English fricative in the word "measure" is denoted with capital letter "Z". Phoneme Examples Transcription English translation p pupa p u p A bean p' pipiras p' i p' I r a s pepper b batas b aA t a s shoe b' bitas b' I t a s bit t taika t ai k A peace t' tema t' e m A theme d durys d U r' ii s door d' dydis d' iI d' i s size k karas k aA r a s war k' kelis k' eA l' i s knee g galas g aA l a s end g' genys g' e n' iI s woodpecker ts cukrus ts U k r u s sugar ts' centas ts' E N t a s cent dz dzūkai dz uU k a j Dzukai dz' dziudo dz' u d O judo tS čardašas tS Aa r d a S a s czardas tS' čekis tS' E k' i s check dZ džaulis dZ Aa w l' i s joule dZ' džiazas dZ' eA z a s jazz s sala s a l A island s' sesuo s' e s uO sister z zona z o n A zone z' zebras z' E b r a s zebra S šalmas S A L m a s helmet S' šiaurė S' E W r' ee north Z žalias Z aA l' e s green Z' žiogas Z' Oo g a s grasshopper x chaosas x a O s a s chaos x' chemija x' E m' i j' e chemistry h haremas h a r' E m a s harem h' hercas h' E R ts a s Hertz f fonas f O n a s background f' figūra f' i g uu r A figure j' jardas; jis j' Ea r d a s; j' i s yard; he j daina d a j n a song J laikas l A J k a s time v vardas v A R d a s name v' vilkas v I L k a s wolf w auka a w k A victim W aukštis A W k' S' t' i s height l lapas; galva l aA p a s; g a l v A leaf; head l' ledas; šaltinis l' eA d a s; S a l' t' I n' i s ice; spring L kulnas k U L n a s heel L' ilgis I L' g' i s length r ragas; barzda r aA g a s; b a r z d A horn; beard r' riba; varlė r' i b A; v a r' l' eE limit; frog R vartai v A R t a j gate R' karštis k A R' S' t' i s heat m matas; gamta m aA t a s; g a m t A measure; nature m' mylia; kempinė m ii l' E; k' e m' p' I n' ee mile; sponge M kampas k A M p a s angle M' vamzdis v A M' z' d' i s pipe n nagas; banga n aA g a s; b a n g A nail; wave n' ne; rinkimai n' E; r' i n' k' I m a j no; election N skundas s k U N d a s complaint N' dangtis d A N' g' t' i s cover -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diphthongs Mixed diphthongs should be built as follows: Unstressed: vowels {a e i u} and consonants {l l' m m' n n' r r'}; Stressed with falling accent: vowels {Aa Ea I U} and consonants {l l' m m' n n' r r'}; Stressed with rising accent: vowels {A E I U} and consonants {L L' M M' N N' R R'}. The diphthongs ie and uo are treated to be separate phonemes, the other diphthongs (their unstressed and stressed variants) should be build like mixed diphthongs using vowels and consonants {j J w W} (in a written text they are usually denoted as i (sometimes j) and u). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Replacements 8464 diphones can be built using 92 phonemes. But many such combinations are impossible in Lithuanian. The diphone database contains only 5003 diphones. Impossible diphones will trigger the following replacements: 1) Palatalised consonants before non-palatalised consonants, pause and vowels {a A aa Aa aA} (except "j'") will be replaced with non-palatalised ones. Non-palatalised consonants before palatalised consonants and vowels {e E ea Ea eA ie Ie iE i I ii Ii iI ee Ee eE} will be replaced with palatalised ones; 2) Voiced consonants {b b' d d' g g' z z' Z Z' dz dz' dZ dZ' h h'} before unvoiced consonants {p p' t t' k k' s s' S S' ts ts' tS tS' x x' f f'} and pause will be replaced with unvoiced ones. Unvoiced consonants {p p' t t' k k' s s' S S' ts ts' tS tS' x x' f f'} before voiced consonants {b b' d d' g g' z z' Z Z' dz dz' dZ dZ' h h'} will be replaced with voiced ones; 3) Non-hissing consonants {s s' z z' ts ts' dz dz'} before hissing consonants {S S' Z Z' tS tS' dZ dZ'} will be replaced with hissing ones; 4) Stressed consonants {L L' M M' N N' R R' J W} that doesn't meet the rules for building diphthongs will be replaced with unstressed ones; 5) Vowels that are stressed with falling accent at the end of word will be replaced with vowels stressed with rising accent; 6) Some other less general replacements. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof. Habil. Dr. Aleksas Stanislovas Girdenis Faculty of Philology Vilnius University Dr. Pijus Kasparaitis Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics Vilnius University E-mail: pkasparaitis@yahoo.com