MISTRAL+: A Melody Intonation Speaker Tonal Range semi-automatic Analysis using variable Levels

Abstract

This paper presents MISTRAL+, the upgraded version of an automatic tool created in 2004 named INTSMEL then MELISM. Since MELISM, the entire process has been modified in order to simplify and enhance the study of languages. MISTRAL+ is a combinaison of two modules: a Praat plugin MISTRAL_Praat, and MISTRAL_xls. For specific corpora, it performs phonological annotation based on the F0 variation in prominent words, but also in any chunk of speech, prominent or not. So this tool while being specialized can also be used as a generic one. Now among others, new functionalities allow to use API symbols while labeling, and to provide a semi-automatic melodic annotation in the frame of tonal languages. The program contains several functions which compute target points (or significant points) to model F0 contour, perform automatic annotation of different shapes and export all data in an xls file. In a first part of this paper, the MISTRAL+ functionalities will be described, and in a second part, an example of application will be presented about a study of the Mo Piu endangered language in the frame of the MICA Au Co Project.

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