Human Language Technology Center of Excellence Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland xli257@jhu.edu
Abstract
We tackle the challenge of scaling accented TTS systems, expanding their capabilities to
include much larger amounts of training data and a wider variety of accent labels, even for
accents that are poorly represented or unlabeled in traditional TTS datasets. To achieve
this, we employ two strategies: 1. Accent label discovery via a speech geolocation model,
which automatically infers accent labels from raw speech data without relying solely on
human annotation; 2. Timbre augmentation through kNN voice conversion to increase data
diversity and model robustness. These strategies are validated on CommonVoice, where we
fine-tune XTTS-v2 for accented TTS with accent labels discovered or enhanced using
geolocation. We demonstrate that the resulting accented TTS model not only outperforms
XTTS-v2 fine-tuned on self-reported accent labels in CommonVoice, but also existing accented
TTS benchmarks.
Accented TTS
Target Sentence
Target Accent
Ground Truth
Baselines
Fine-tuned XTTS
They are the most potent inhibitors
of acid secretion available.
US
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
Smith was born in Essex and was
educated at Bancroft's School.
England
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
The odor of spring makes
young hearts jump.
Scotland
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
Warmley is situated in between
Bristol and Bath.
Ireland
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
He started boxing
at age fifteen.
Australia
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
The site was from the sea
and from London.
India
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2 (target language: Hindi)
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
The crabs have also been
known to take up
residence in swimming
pools.
Germany
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2 (target language: German)
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
Many Italian nationals
are employed as
civilian workers
at the base.
South Africa
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2 (target language: Hindi)
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
It is also funded through
the National Lottery,
Creative Scotland and
Northern Ireland Screen.
Philippines
AccentBox
CosyVoice 2
XTTS-v2 (target language: Hindi)
CommonVoice labels filtered using geolocation
CommonVoice labels, unfiltered
Labels discovered using geolocation
These speculations began
when the British discovered
the full scope of the treaty.