Implementation of an Automatic Syllabic Division Algorithm from Speech Files in Portuguese Language

A new algorithm for voice automatic syllabic splitting in the Portuguese language is proposed, which is based on the envelope of the speech signal of the input audio file. A computational implementation in MatlabTM is presented and made available at the URL http://www2.ee.ufpe.br/codec/divisao_silabica.html. Due to its straightforwardness, the proposed method is very attractive for embedded systems (e.g. i-phones). It can also be used as a screen to assist more sophisticated methods. Voice excerpts containing more than one syllable and identified by the same envelope are named as super-syllables and they are subsequently separated. The results indicate which samples corresponds to the beginning and end of each detected syllable. Preliminary tests were performed to fifty words at an identification rate circa 70% (further improvements may be incorporated to treat particular phonemes). This algorithm is also useful in voice command systems, as a tool in the teaching of Portuguese language or even for patients with speech pathology.