A speech processing strategy of cochlear implants based on tonal information of Chinese language

Chinese language is significantly different from other languages such as English. It is known as a tonal language with explicit variation of pitch in the pronunciation of words. The objective of this paper is to develop a speech processing strategy for cochlear implant based on characteristics of Chinese language. The paper discusses first the characteristics of Chinese speech signals, and then presents simulation results on the effect of pitch variation in speech perception. Results show that adding tonal information to a CIS (Continuous Interleaved Sampling) speech processor will offer an improved intelligibility of spoken Chinese. Based on the CIS strategy, a novel speech processor with dynamic modulation of stimulation rate is proposed for cochlear implants for use with Chinese deaf people.