Phonemic Resonance Networks: A Bio-Acoustic Framework for Emotion-Aware Speech Synthesis

Posted: Oct 28, 2025

• Dr. Elara Vance
• Prof. Kaito Tanaka
• Dr. Sofia Petrova

Abstract

Contemporary speech synthesis systems have achieved remarkable progress in naturalness and intelligibility, yet they largely fail to capture the nuanced emotional dimensions that characterize authentic human communication. The predominant approach treats emotional expression as a post-processing layer applied to neutral speech, fundamentally misrepresenting how emotions emerge from the complex interplay of physiological changes in the human vocal apparatus. This paper introduces Phonemic Resonance Networks (PRNs), a paradigm-shifting framework that reconceptualizes emotional speech synthesis through the lens of vocal biomechanics and acoustic resonance theory. Human emotional expression in speech arises from coordinated changes in respiratory patterns, laryngeal tension, vocal fold vibration, and articulatory precision. These physiological modifications produce distinctive acoustic signatures that current synthesis methods struggle to replicate authentically. Our work addresses this limitation by developing a computational model that explicitly incorporates principles from vocal fold dynamics, formant theory, and articulatory phonetics.