The lack of tone changes in TTS

Barry

举人
Hello,

I might be mistaken, but I have noticed the lack of tone changes in TTS, whereas in recorded words/phrases they are clearly present.

As we know, in Chinese there are three tone changes:

Tone changes for 不, for 一 yī, for multiple third tones (tone changes depend on what tone follows them).

So I have noticed that those tone changes are present in recorded words, but are lacking from TTS.

If it is indeed so, is it possible to add it to TTS in future versions?

Thank you.
 
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mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Hmm, yeah, there's code for that but it seems like it might be intermittently bugged - thanks.
 

Shun

状元
Hi Mike,

I've found that the tone changes / "sandhis" work most of the time, but the Qiang Mandarin Male voice—and a large part of the others—sometimes pronounces an expression incorrectly when it occurs as part of a sentence, but correctly when it's pronounced by itself. (on iOS)

炸薯条 in 我吃了炸薯条。 "I ate some French fries."

In the Dictionary view of 炸薯条, Qiang uses the correct "zháshǔtiáo", but in the complete sentence, it pronounces it as "Wǒ chīle zhàshǔtiáo." Or does anyone know if is this a modern, colloquial tone change rule? The "wrong" way is certainly easier to pronounce.

I am guessing that you are already aware of this.

Regards,

Shun
 
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Fernando

榜眼
Or does anyone know if is this a modern, colloquial tone change rule?

The only dictionary I have installed that shows zhà as an acceptable pronunciation of the character in the sense of “deep-fry” is CC-CEDICT, and it gives it as a Taiwanese pronunciation no less. I have never heard it though, and MOE adamantly offers two separate entries with different pronunciations and definitions.
 

Shun

状元
Hi Fernando,

Thanks a lot, that may well be; since CC-CEDICT also covers many new language developments including internet slang words, the tone may well have changed in modern usage. TTS voices are a modern thing, too, so they may be quicker to adapt, as well. ;)

Best, Shun
 

Fernando

榜眼
Hi Shun,

That maybe true, but remember that everyday speech in Taiwan is heavily influenced by Hokkien. So even if they use the 4th tone it would be something more like zà. On TV and other formal situations when using 100% 國語 they clearly use the 2nd tone zhá. I think that might be the case elsewhere too, with local dialects affecting the pronunciation of 普通話.
 

Shun

状元
Hi Fernando,

thanks a lot for the knowledgeable reply. That's very likely it.

Cheers, Shun
 

Fernando

榜眼
Hey Shun,

Maybe I’m not so knowledgeable after all. I wanted to doublecheck with a couple videos and I found this one. Lo and behold, the TV presenter at the beginning uses the 4th note, while the narrator and other people on camera use the 2nd. Check it out for yourself when she says 「在桃園這兩年有一台炸雞炒飯行動餐車非常非常火紅」. Isn‘t it the 4th or am I still tone deaf?

 

Shun

状元
Hi Fernando,

Thanks for the video; you're definitely right, I also hear it pronounced as zhà, twice from two different speakers.

I searched for "普通话 炸 第四声" on Google and read that not just on Taiwan, but also among younger people in mainland China, the pronunciation "zhà" is quite common. I also read in there that elderly people will rebuke younger people when they don't use "zhá":


So it follows that both food and language are important topics of conversation; one can never go wrong with one of these. :)

Have a nice evening,

Shun
 
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