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% HTKBook - Steve Young 1/12/97
%

\mychap{Transcriptions and Label Files}{labels}

\sidepic{Tool.labs}{80}{}
Many of the operations performed by \HTK\ which involve speech data
files assume that the speech is divided into segments and each segment
has a name or \textit{label}.  The set of labels associated with a
speech file constitute a \textit{transcription} and each transcription is
stored in a separate \textit{label file}.  Typically, the name of the
label file will be the same as the corresponding speech file but with
a different extension.  For convenience, label files are often stored
in a separate directory and all \HTK\ tools have an option to specify
this.  When very large numbers of files are being processing, label
file access can be greatly facilitated by using\index{master label files}
\textit{Master Label Files (MLFs)}.  MLFs may be regarded as index\index{MLF}
files holding pointers to the actual label files which can either be
embedded in the same index file or stored anywhere else in the file system.
Thus, MLFs allow large sets of files to be stored in a single file, they
allow a single transcription to be shared by many logical label files
and they allow arbitrary file redirection.\index{label files}

The \HTK\ interface to label files is provided by the module \htool{HLabel}
which implements the MLF facility and support for a number of external
label file formats. 
All of the facilities supplied by \htool{HLabel}, including the
supported label file formats, are described in this chapter.
In addition, \HTK\ provides a tool called \htool{HLEd} for simple 
batch editing of label files and this is also described.
Before proceeding to the details, however, the general structure of
label files will be reviewed.

\mysect{Label File Structure}{labstruct}

Most transcriptions are single-alternative and single-level, that is
to say, the associated speech file is described by a single sequence
of labelled segments.  Most standard label formats are of this kind.
Sometimes, however, it is useful to have several levels of labels associated
with the same basic segment sequence.   For example, in training a HMM
system it is useful to have both the word level transcriptions and the
phone level transcriptions \textit{side-by-side}.  \index{labels!side-by-side}

Orthogonal to the requirement for multiple levels of description,
a transcription may also need to include multiple alternative
descriptions of the same speech file.  For example, the output
of a speech recogniser may be in the form of an \textit{N-best} list
where each word sequence in the list represents one possible interpretation
of the input.\index{labels!multiple level}

As an example, Fig.~\href{f:labegs} shows a speech file and three
different ways in which it might be labelled.  In part (a), just a simple
orthography is given and this single-level single-alternative type of
transcription is the  commonest case. Part (b) shows a 2-level
transcription  where the basic level consists of a sequence of phones but
a higher level of word labels are also provided.  Notice that there is a
distinction between the basic level and the higher levels, since only the
basic level has explicit boundary locations marked for every segment. 
The higher levels do not have explicit boundary information since this
can always be inferred from the basic level boundaries. Finally, part (c)
shows the case where knowledge of the contents of the speech file is
uncertain and three possible word sequences are given.

\HTK\ label files support multiple-alternative and multiple-level
transcriptions.  In addition to start and end times on the basic level, a
label at  any level may also have a score associated with it.  When a
transcription is loaded, all but one specific alternative can be discarded by
setting the configuration variable \texttt{TRANSALT}\index{transalt@\texttt{TRANSALT}} to the required
alternative \texttt{N}, where the first (i.e. normal) alternative is numbered
1.  Similarly, all but a specified level can be discarded by setting the
configuration variable 
\texttt{TRANSLEV}\index{translev@\texttt{TRANSLEV}} to 
the required level number where again the first (i.e.
normal) level is numbered 1.

All non-\HTK\ formats are limited to
single-level single-alternative transcriptions.


\mysect{Label File Formats}{labform}

As with speech data files, \HTK\ not only defines its own format for
label files but also supports a number of external formats.  Defining
an external format is similar to the case for speech data files except
that the relevant configuration variables for specifying a format
other than \HTK\ are called \texttt{SOURCELABEL}\index{sourcelabel@\texttt{SOURCELABEL}} and \texttt{TARGETLABEL}.
The source label format can also be specified using the 
\texttt{-G}\index{standard options!aaag@\texttt{-G}} command
line option.  As with using the 
\texttt{-F}\index{standard options!aaaf@\texttt{-F}} command
line option for speech data files, the \texttt{-G} option overrides any
setting of \texttt{SOURCELABEL}\index{labels!external formats}

\subsection{HTK Label Files}

The \HTK\ label format is text based.  As noted above, a single label
file can contain multiple-alternatives and multiple-levels.

Each line of a \HTK\ label file contains\index{label files!HTK format}
the actual label optionally preceded by start and end times, and
optionally followed by a match score.  
\begin{verbatim}
    [start  [end] ] name [score] { auxname [auxscore] } [comment]
\end{verbatim}
where \texttt{start} denotes the start time of the labelled segment
in 100ns units, \texttt{end}
denotes the end time in 100ns units,  \texttt{name} is the name
of the segment and \texttt{score} is a floating point confidence score.
All fields except the name are optional.  If \texttt{end} is omitted then
it is set equal to -1 and ignored.  This case would occur with data which had
been labelled frame synchronously.  If \texttt{start} and \texttt{end} are both
missing then both are set to -1 and the label file is treated as a 
simple symbolic transcription.  The
optional score would typically be a log probability generated by a 
recognition tool.  When omitted the score is set to 0.0.

The following example corresponds to the transcription shown
in part (a) of Fig.~\ref{f:labegs}
\begin{verbatim}
    0000000 3600000 ice
    3600000 8200000 cream
\end{verbatim}
Multiple levels are described by adding further names alongside
the basic name.  The lowest level (shortest segments) should be
given first since only the lowest level has start and end times.
The label file corresponding to the transcription illustrated in
part (b) of Fig.~\ref{f:labegs} would be as follows.
\begin{verbatim}
    0000000 2200000 ay     ice
    2200000 3600000 s
    3600000 4300000 k      cream
    4300000 5000000 r
    5000000 7400000 iy
    7400000 8200000 m
\end{verbatim}
Finally, multiple alternatives are written as a sequence of separate
label lists separated by three slashes (///).
The label file corresponding to the transcription illustrated in
part (c) of Fig.~\ref{f:labegs} would therefore be as follows.
\begin{verbatim}
    0000000 2200000 I
    2200000 8200000 scream
    ///
    0000000 3600000 ice
    3600000 8200000 cream
    ///
    0000000 3600000 eyes
    3600000 8200000 cream
\end{verbatim}

Actual label names can be any sequence of characters.
However, the \texttt{-} and \texttt{+} characters are reserved for identifying
the left and right context\index{labels!context markers}, 
respectively, in a context-dependent phone
label.  For example, the label \texttt{N-aa+V} might be used to denote
the phone \texttt{aa} when preceded by a nasal and followed by a vowel.
These context-dependency conventions are used in the label editor \htool{HLEd},
and are understood by all \HTK\ tools.

\subsection{ESPS Label Files}

An \ESPSwaves\  label file is a text file with one label stored per
line. Each label indicates a segment boundary. \index{label files!ESPS format}
A complete description
of the \ESPSwaves\  label format is given in the \ESPSwaves\ 
manual pages {\bf xwaves (1-ESPS)} and {\bf xlabel (1-ESPS)}.
Only details required for use with \HTK\ are given here. 

The label data follows
a header which ends with a line containing only
a \texttt{\#}.  The header contents are generally ignored by \htool{HLabel}.
The labels follow the header in the form
\begin{verbatim}
   time  ccode  name 
\end{verbatim}
where \texttt{time} is a floating point number which denotes the boundary
location  in seconds,
\texttt{ccode} is an integer color map entry used by \ESPSwaves\  in drawing
segment boundaries and \texttt{name} is the name of the segment boundary. A
typical value for \texttt{ccode} is \texttt{121}.

While each \HTK\ label can contain both a start and an end time which
indicate
the boundaries of a labeled segment, \ESPSwaves\ labels
contain a single time in seconds which (by convention) refers 
to the end of the labeled segment.  The starting time
of the segment is taken to be the end of the previous
segment and \texttt{0} initially.

\ESPSwaves\  label files may have several boundary names per line.
However, \htool{HLabel} only reads \ESPSwaves\ label files with a single name
per boundary.  Multiple-alternative and/or multiple-level \HTK\ label
data structures cannot be saved using  \ESPSwaves\ format label files.

\subsection{TIMIT Label Files}

\index{label files!TIMIT format}
TIMIT label files are identical to single-alternative single-level HTK
label files without scores except that the start and end times are
given as sample numbers rather than absolute times.  TIMIT label files
are used on both the prototype and final versions of the TIMIT CD ROM.

\subsection{SCRIBE Label Files}

\index{label files!SCRIBE format}
The SCRIBE label file format is a subset of the European SAM label file format.
SAM label files are text files and each line begins with a label identifying
the type of information stored on that line.  The \HTK\ SCRIBE format recognises
just three label types
\begin{tabbing}
++ \= +++++++ \= \kill
\> LBA \>-- acoustic label \\
\> LBB \>-- broad class label \\
\> UTS \>-- utterance 
\end{tabbing}
For each of these, the rest of the line is divided into comma separated
fields.  The LBA and LBB types have 4 fields: start sample, centre sample, end sample
and label.  \HTK\ expects the centre sample to be blank.  The UTS type has 3 fields:
start sample, end sample and label.  UTS labels may be multi-word since they can
refer to a complete utterance.  In order to make such labels usable within \HTK\ tools,
between word blanks are converted to underscore characters.  The 
\texttt{EX}\index{ex@\texttt{EX} command} command
in the \HTK\ label editor \htool{HLEd} can then be used to split such
a compound label into individual word labels if required.


\mysect{Master Label Files}{mlfs}

\subsection{General Principles of MLFs}

\index{master label files}
Logically, the organisation of data and label files is very simple.
Every data file has a label file of the same name (but
different extension) which is either stored in the same directory as
the data file or in some other specified directory.

\sidefig{labegs}{60}{Example Transcriptions}{2}{}
This scheme is sufficient for most needs and commendably simple.
However, there are many cases where either it makes unnecessarily
inefficient use of the operating system or it seriously inconveniences
the user.  For example, to use a training tool with
isolated word data may require the generation of hundreds or thousands of
label files each having just one label entry.  Even where individual
label files are appropriate (as in the phonetically transcribed TIMIT
database), each label file must be
stored in the same directory as the data file it transcribes, or all label files
must be stored in the same directory.  One cannot, for example, have a
different directory of label files for each TIMIT dialect region and
then run the \HTK\ training tool \htool{HERest} on the whole database.

All of these problems can be solved by the use of Master Label Files
(MLFs).  Every \HTK\ tool which uses label files has a 
\texttt{-I}\index{standard options!aaai@\texttt{-I}} option
which can be used to specify the name of an MLF file.  When an MLF has been
loaded, the normal rules for locating a label file apply except that
the MLF is searched first.  If the required label file \texttt{f} is found via
the MLF then that is loaded, otherwise the file \texttt{f} is opened as normal.
If \texttt{f} does not exist, then an error is reported.
The \texttt{-I} option may be repeated on the command line to open
several MLF files simultaneously.  In this case, each is searched in turn
before trying to open the required file.

MLFs can do two things.  Firstly, they can contain 
embedded label definitions\index{master label files!embedded label definitions} 
so that many or all of the needed label definitions can be
stored in the same file.  Secondly, they can contain the names of
sub-directories to search for label files.  In effect, they allow
multiple search paths\index{master label files!multiple search paths} 
to be defined.  Both of these two types of
definition can be mixed in a single MLF.

MLFs are quite complex to understand and use.  However, they add
considerable power and flexibility to \HTK\ which combined with the
\texttt{-S}\index{standard options!aaas@\texttt{-S}} and 
\texttt{-L}\index{standard options!aaal@\texttt{-L}} 
options mean that virtually any organisation of
data and label files can be accommodated. 

\subsection{Syntax and Semantics}

An MLF consists of one or more individual definitions.  Blank lines in
an MLF are ignored but otherwise the line structure is significant.
The first line must contain just \texttt{\#!MLF!\#} to identify it as an MLF file.
This is not necessary for use with the \texttt{-I} option but some 
\HTK\ tools need to be able to distinguish an MLF from a normal label file.
The following syntax\index{master label files!syntax} of MLF files is described using an 
extended BNF notation in which
alternatives are separated by a vertical bar $|$, parentheses (\ ) denote
factoring, brackets [\ ] denote options, and braces \{\ \} denote zero or more
repetitions. 

{\sf
\begin{tabbing}
++++ \= ++++++++ \= ++ \= +++++++++++++++++ \= +++ \=  \kill
\>    MLF  =  \> ``\#!MLF!\#'' \\
\>\>  MLFDef \{ MLFDef \}
\end{tabbing}
}

Each definition is either a transcription for immediate loading or a
subdirectory to search.

{\sf
\begin{tabbing}
++++ \= ++++++++ \= ++ \= +++++++++++++++++ \= +++ \=  \kill
\>    MLFDef  = \> ImmediateTranscription $|$ SubDirDef
\end{tabbing}
}

An immediate transcription consists of a pattern on a line
by itself immediately followed
by a transcription which as far as the MLF is concerned is arbitrary
text.  It is read using whatever label file ``driver'' routines are
installed in \htool{HLabel}.  It is terminated by a period written on a line
of its own.

{\sf
\begin{tabbing}
++++ \= ++++++++ \= ++ \= +++++++++++++++++ \= +++ \=  \kill
\>   ImmediateTranscription = \\
\>\>                    Pattern \\
\>\>                    Transcription \\
\>\>``.'' 
\end{tabbing}
}
A subdirectory definition  simply gives the name of a subdirectory
to search.  If the required label file is found in that subdirectory
then the label file is loaded, otherwise the next matching subdirectory
definition is checked.

{\sf
\begin{tabbing}
++++ \= ++++++++ \= ++ \= +++++++++++++++++ \= +++ \=  \kill
\>   SubDirDef = \> Pattern SearchMode String \\
\>   SearchMode = \> ``\verb+->+'' $|$ ``\verb+=>+''
\end{tabbing}
}
\noindent
The two types of search mode are described below. A pattern is just a 
string
{\sf
\begin{tabbing}
++++ \= ++++++++ \= ++ \= +++++++++++++++++ \= +++ \=  \kill
\>    Pattern = \> String
\end{tabbing}
}
\noindent
except that the characters `\texttt{?}' and `\texttt{*}' embedded in the string act
as wildcards\index{master label files!wildcards} such that `\texttt{?}' matches any single character and
`\texttt{*}' matches 0 or more characters.
A string is any sequence of characters enclosed in double quotes.

\subsection{MLF Search}

The names of label files in \HTK\ are invariably reconstructed from an
existing data file name and this means that the
file names used to access label files can be partial or full path names in which
the path has been constructed either from the path of the corresponding
data file or by direct specification via the {\tt -L} option.  These
path names are retained in the MLF search\index{master label files!search} which proceeds as follows.
The given label file specification \texttt{../d3/d2/d1/name} is matched
against each pattern in the MLF.  If a pattern matches, then either the
named subdirectory is searched or an immediate definition is loaded.
Pattern matching continues in this way until a definition is found.  If
no pattern matches\index{master label files!pattern matching} then an attempt is made to open \texttt{../d3/d2/d1/name}
directly.  If this fails an error is reported.

The search of a sub-directory\index{master label files!sub-directory search} proceeds as follows.  In simple search
mode indicated by  \texttt{->}, the file \texttt{name} must occur directly in the
sub-directory.  In full search mode indicated by \texttt{=>}, the files
\texttt{name, d1/name, d2/d1/name}, etc. are searched for in that order.
This full search allows a hierarchy of label files to be constructed
which mirrors a hierarchy of data files (see Example 4 below).
   
Hashing is performed when the label file specification is either
a full path name or in the form \texttt{*/file} so in these cases
the search is very fast. Any other use of metacharacters invokes
a linear search with a full and relatively slow pattern match at each step.
Note that all tools which generate label files have a \texttt{-l}
option which is used to define the output directory in which to store
individual label files.  When outputting master label files,  the \texttt{-l}
option can be used to define the path in the output label file specifications.
In particular, setting the option \texttt{-l '*'} causes
the form \texttt{*/file} to be generated.\index{master label files!patterns}

\subsection{MLF Examples}

\index{master label files!examples}
\begin{enumerate}
\item
Suppose a data set consisted of two training data files with
corresponding label files:
\newline
\texttt{a.lab} contains 
\begin{verbatim}
       000000  590000  sil
       600000 2090000  a
      2100000 4500000  sil
\end{verbatim}
\texttt{b.lab} contains 
\begin{verbatim}
       000000  990000  sil
      1000000 3090000  b
      3100000 4200000  sil
\end{verbatim}
Then the above two individual label files could be replaced by a single MLF
\begin{verbatim}
      #!MLF!#
      "*/a.lab"
       000000  590000  sil
       600000 2090000  a
      2100000 4500000  sil
      .                      
      "*/b.lab"
       000000  990000  sil
      1000000 3090000  b
      3100000 4200000  sil
      .                      
\end{verbatim}

\item
A digit data base contains training tokens \texttt{one.1.wav, one.2.wav, one.3.wav, ...,
two.1.wav, two.2.wav, two.3.wav, ...}, etc.  Label files are required containing
just the name of the model so that \HTK\ tools such as \htool{HERest} can be used.
If MLFs are not used, individual label files are needed.  For example,
the individual label files \texttt{one.1.lab, one.2.lab, one.3.lab, ....} would be
needed
to identifiy instances of ``one'' even though each file contains the same entry, just
\begin{verbatim}
      one
\end{verbatim}
Using an MLF containing
\begin{verbatim}
      #!MLF!#
      "*/one.*.lab"
      one
      .
      "*/two.*.lab"
      two
      .
      "*/three.*.lab"
      three
      .
      <etc.>
\end{verbatim}
avoids the need for many duplicate label files.

\item
A training database \texttt{/db} contains directories \texttt{dr1, dr2, ..., dr8}.
Each directory contains a subdirectory called \texttt{labs} holding the
label files for the data files in that directory.  The following
MLF would allow them to be found
\begin{verbatim}
      #!MLF!#
      "*" -> "/db/dr1/labs"
      "*" -> "/db/dr2/labs"
      ...
      "*" -> "/db/dr7/labs"
      "*" -> "/db/dr8/labs"
\end{verbatim}      
Each attempt to open a label file will result in a linear search
through \texttt{dr1} to \texttt{dr8} to find that file.  If the sub-directory name
is embedded into the label file name, then this searching can
be avoided.  For example, if the label files in directory \texttt{drx} had
the form \texttt{drx\_xxxx.lab}, then the MLF would be written as
\begin{verbatim}
      #!MLF!#
      "*/dr1_*" -> "/db/dr1/labs"
      "*/dr2_*" -> "/db/dr2/labs"
      ...
      "*/dr7_*" -> "/db/dr7/labs"
      "*/dr8_*" -> "/db/dr8/labs"
\end{verbatim}   

\item
A training database is organised as a hierarchy where 
\texttt{/disk1/db/dr1/sp2/u3.wav} is the data file for the third
repetition from speaker 2 in dialect region \texttt{dr1}
(see Figure~\ref{f:dbhier}).  

\centrefig{dbhier}{80}{Database Hierarchy: Data [Left]; Labels [Right].} 

Suppose
that a similar hierarchy of label files was constructed on
\texttt{disk3}.
These label files could be found by any \HTK\ tool by using an
MLF containing just
\begin{verbatim}
      #!MLF!#
      "*" => "/disk3"
\end{verbatim}      
If for some reason all of the \texttt{drN} directories were
renamed \texttt{ldrN} in the label hierarchy, then this could be
handled by an MLF file containing
\begin{verbatim}
      #!MLF!#
      "*/dr1/*" => "/disk3/ldr1"
      "*/dr2/*" => "/disk3/ldr2"
      "*/dr3/*" => "/disk3/ldr3"
               etc.
\end{verbatim}      
\end{enumerate}
These few examples should illustrate the flexibility and power of MLF files.
It should noted, however, that when generating label names automatically from data file names, HTK sometimes discards path details. For example, during recognition, if the data files /disk1/dr2/sx43.wav and /disk2/dr4/sx43.wav are being recognised, and a single directory is specified for the output label files, then recognition results for both files will be written to a file called sx43.lab, and the latter occurrence will overwrite the former.


\mysect{Editing Label Files}{edlab}

\HTK\ training tools typically expect the labels used in 
transcription files to correspond\index{labels!editing}
directly to the names of the HMMs chosen to build an application.  Hence,
the label files supplied with a speech database will often need 
modifying.  For example, the original transcriptions attached to a database
might be at a fine level of acoustic detail.  Groups of labels corresponding 
to a sequence of acoustic events (e.g. \texttt{pcl p'}) might need converting
to some simpler form (e.g. \texttt{p}) which is more suitable for being
represented by a HMM.  As a second example, current high performance speech
recognisers use a large number of context dependent models to allow more
accurate acoustic modelling.  For this case, the labels in the transcription
must be converted to show the required contexts explicitly.

\HTK\ supplies a tool called \htool{HLEd} for rapidly and efficiently converting
label files. The \htool{HLEd} command invocation specifies the names of the files
to be converted and the name of a script file holding the actual
\htool{HLEd}\index{hled@\htool{HLEd}} commands.  For example, the command
\begin{verbatim}
    HLEd edfile.led l1 l2 l3
\end{verbatim}
would apply the edit commands stored in the file \texttt{edfile.led}
to each of the label files \texttt{l1}, \texttt{l2} and \texttt{l3}. More commonly
the new label files are stored in a new directory to avoid overwriting
the originals.  This is done by using the 
\texttt{-l} option.  For example,
\begin{verbatim}
    HLEd -l newlabs edfile.led l1 l2 l3
\end{verbatim}
would have the same effect as previously except that the new
label files would be stored in the directory \texttt{newlabs}.

Each edit command stored in an edit file\index{edit file} is identified by
a mnemonic consisting of two letters\footnote{
Some command names have single 
letter\index{edit commands!single letter} alternatives for compatibility with
earlier versions of \HTK.}
and must be stored on a separate
line.  The supplied edit commands can be divided into two groups.
The first group consist of commands which perform selective 
changes to specific labels and the second group contains commands
which perform global transformations.  
The reference section defines all of these
commands.  Here a few examples will be given to illustrate the
use of \htool{HLEd}.

As a first example, when using the 
TIMIT database\index{TIMIT database},  
the original 61 phoneme symbol set is often mapped
into a simpler 48 phoneme symbol set.  The aim of this mapping
is to delete all glottal stops, replace all closures preceding a voiced stop 
by a generic
voiced closure (\texttt{vcl}), all closures preceding an unvoiced stop 
by a generic
unvoiced closure (\texttt{cl}) and the different types of silence to
a single generic silence (\texttt{sil}).  A \htool{HLEd} script to
do this might be
\begin{verbatim}
    # Map 61 Phone Timit Set -> 48 Phones
    SO
    DE q
    RE cl pcl tcl kcl qcl
    RE vcl bcl dcl gcl
    RE sil h# #h pau
\end{verbatim}
The first line is a comment indicated by the initial hash character.
The command on the second line is the {\it Sort} command 
\texttt{SO}\index{so@\texttt{SO} command}.\index{labels!sorting}
This is an example of a global command.
Its effect is to sort all the labels into time order.
Normally the labels in a transcription will already be in time order
but some speech editors simply output labels in the order that the
transcriber marked them.  Since this would confuse the re-estimation
tools, it is good practice to explicitly sort all label files in this
way.

The command on the third line is the {\it Delete} command 
\texttt{DE}\index{de@\texttt{DE} command}.  
This is
a selective command.  Its\index{labels!deleting}
effect is to delete all of the labels
listed on the rest of the command line, wherever they occur.
In this case, there is
just one label listed for deletion, the
glottal stop  \texttt{q}.
Hence, the overall effect of this command will be to delete all occurrences
of the \texttt{q} label in the edited label files.

The remaining commands in this example script are {\it Replace} commands
\texttt{RE}.  The effect of a Replace command is to substitute the first
label following the \texttt{RE}\index{re@\texttt{RE} command} for every occurrence of the remaining labels
on that line.\index{labels!replacing}  Thus, for example, the 
command on the third line causes all occurrences of the labels \texttt{pcl},
\texttt{tcl}, \texttt{kcl} or \texttt{qcl} to be replaced by the label \texttt{cl}.

To illustrate the overall effect of the above \htool{HLEd} command script on
a complete label file, the following \texttt{TIMIT} format label file
\begin{verbatim}
     0000 2241 h#
     2241 2715 w
     2715 4360 ow
     4360 5478 bcl
     5478 5643 b
     5643 6360 iy
     6360 7269 tcl
     7269 8313 t
     8313 11400 ay
    11400 12950 dcl
    12950 14360 dh
    14360 14640 h#
\end{verbatim}
would be converted by the above script to the following
\begin{verbatim}
          0 1400625 sil 
    1400625 1696875 w 
    1696875 2725000 ow 
    2725000 3423750 vcl 
    3423750 3526875 b 
    3526875 3975000 iy 
    3975000 4543125 cl 
    4543125 5195625 t 
    5195625 7125000 ay 
    7125000 8093750 vcl 
    8093750 8975000 dh 
    8975000 9150000 sil 
\end{verbatim}
Notice that label boundaries in TIMIT format are given in terms of sample
numbers (16kHz sample rate), whereas the edited output file is in 
\HTK\ format in which all times are in absolute 100ns units.  

As well as the Replace command, there is
also a {\it Merge} command \texttt{ME}\index{me@\texttt{ME} command}.  This command is used 
to replace a sequence of labels by a single label.  \index{labels!merging}
For example, the following commands would merge the closure and release
labels in the previous TIMIT transcription into single labels
\begin{verbatim}
    ME b bcl b
    ME d dcl dh
    ME t tcl t
\end{verbatim}
As shown by this example, the label used for the merged sequence can be
the same as occurs in the original but some care is needed since
\htool{HLEd} commands are normally applied in sequence.   Thus, a command
on line $n$ is applied to the label sequence that remains after the
commands on lines 1 to $n-1$ have been applied.

There is one exception to the above rule of sequential edit command
application.  The {\it Change} command \index{labels!changing}
\texttt{CH}\index{ch@\texttt{CH} command} provides for context
sensitive replacement.  However, when a sequence of Change commands occur
in a script, the sequence is applied as a block so that the contexts
which apply for each command are those that existed just prior to the
block being executed. The Change command takes 4 arguments \texttt{X A Y
B} such that every occurrence of label \texttt{Y} in the context of
\texttt{A \_ B} is changed to the label \texttt{X}.  The contexts
\texttt{A} and \texttt{B} refer to sets of labels and  are defined by
separate \textit{Define Context} commands \texttt{DC}\index{dc@\texttt{DC} command}.   
The \texttt{CH} and
\texttt{DC} commands are primarily used for creating context sensitive
labels.  For example, suppose that a set of context-dependent phoneme
models are needed for TIMIT.  Rather than treat all possible contexts
separately and build separate triphones for each  (see below), the
possible contexts  will be grouped into just 5 broad classes: C
(consonant), V (vowel), N (nasal), L (liquid) and S (silence). The goal
then is to translate a label sequence such as \texttt{sil b ah t iy n ...}
into \texttt{sil+C S-b+V C-ah+C V-t+V C-iy+N V-n+ ...} where the
\texttt{-} and \texttt{+} symbols within a label are recognised by 
\HTK\ as defining the left and right context, respectively. To perform this
transformation, it is necessary to firstly use \texttt{DC} commands to
define the 5 contexts, that is
\begin{verbatim}
    DC V iy ah ae eh ix ... 
    DC C t k d k g dh ... 
    DC L l r w j ...
    DC N n m ng ...
    DC S h# #h epi ...
\end{verbatim}
Having defined the required contexts, a change command must be
written for each context dependent triphone, that is
\begin{verbatim}
    CH V-ah+V V ah V
    CH V-ah+C V ah C
    CH V-ah+N V ah N
    CH V-ah+L V ah L
     ...
     etc
\end{verbatim}
This script will, of course, be rather long (25 $\times$ number of
phonemes) but it can easily be generated automaticaly 
by a simple program or shell script.

The previous example shows how to transform a set of phonemes into a
context dependent set in which the contexts are user-defined.
\index{labels!context dependent} For
convenience, \htool{HLEd} provides a set of global transformation commands
for converting phonemic transcriptions to conventional left or right
biphones, or full triphones.  For example, a script containing the single
{\it Triphone Conversion} command \texttt{TC}\index{tc@\texttt{TC} command} will convert phoneme 
files to regular
triphones.  As an illustration, applying the \texttt{TC} command to a file
containing the sequence \texttt{sil b ah t iy n ...} would  give the
transformed sequence 
\texttt{sil+b sil-b+ah b-ah+t ah-t+iy t-iy+n iy-n+ ...}. Notice that the
first and last phonemes in the sequence  cannot be transformed in the
normal way.  Hence, the left-most and right-most contexts of these
start and end phonemes can be specified
explicitly as arguments to the \texttt{TC} commands if required.  For
example, the command \texttt{TC \# \#} would give the sequence
\texttt{\#-sil+b sil-b+ah b-ah+t ah-t+iy t-iy+n iy-n+ ... +\#}.  
Also, the contexts at pauses and word boundaries can be blocked
using the
\texttt{WB} command.   For example, if \texttt{WB sp} was executed, the
effect of a subsequent \texttt{TC} command on the sequence 
\texttt{sil b ah t sp iy n ...} would be to give the sequence 
\texttt{sil+b sil-b+ah b-ah+t ah-t sp iy+n iy-n+ ...}, 
where \texttt{sp} represents a short pause. Conversely, the \texttt{NB} 
command can be used to ignore a label as far as context is concerned.  For example,
if  \texttt{NB sp} was executed, the
effect of a subsequent \texttt{TC} command on the sequence 
\texttt{sil b ah t sp iy n ...} would be to give the sequence 
\texttt{sil+b sil-b+ah b-ah+t ah-t+iy sp t-iy+n iy-n+ ...}.

When processing \HTK\ format label files with multiple levels, only the 
level 1 (i.e. left-most) labels are affected.\index{labels!moving level}  To process a higher
level, the \textit{Move Level} command \texttt{ML}\index{ml@\texttt{ML} command} should be used.
For example, in the script
\begin{verbatim}
    ML 2
    RE one 1
    RE two 2
    ...
\end{verbatim}
the Replace commands are applied to level 2 which is the first level
above the basic level.  The command \texttt{ML 1} returns to the 
base level.  A complete level can be deleted by the 
\textit{Delete Level} command \texttt{DL}.  This command can
be given a numeric argument to delete a specific level or
with no argument, the current level is deleted.
Multiple levels can also be split into single level alternatives
by using the \textit{Split Level} command \texttt{SL}.

When processing \HTK\ format files with multiple alternatives,
each alternative is processed as though it were a separate file.

Remember also that in addition to the explicit \htool{HLEd} commands,
levels and alternatives can be filtered on input by setting the
configuration variables \texttt{TRANSLEV}\index{translev@\texttt{TRANSLEV}} and 
\texttt{TRANSALT}\index{transalt@\texttt{TRANSALT}} 
(see section~\ref{s:labstruct}).

Finally, it should be noted that most \HTK\ tools require 
all HMMs used in a system to be defined in\index{HMM lists}
a {\it HMM List}.  \htool{HLEd} can be made to automatically generate such
a list as a by-product of editing the label files by using the 
\texttt{-n} option.  For example, the following command would apply
the script \texttt{timit.led} to all files in the directory \texttt{tlabs},
write the converted files to the directory \texttt{hlabs}
and also write out a list of all new labels in the edited
files to \texttt{tlist}.
\begin{verbatim}
    HLEd -n tlist -l hlabs -G TIMIT timit.led tlabs/*
\end{verbatim}
Notice here that the \texttt{-G} option is used to inform \htool{HLEd} 
that the format of the source files is \texttt{TIMIT}. This could also
be indicated by setting the configuration variable 
\texttt{SOURCELABEL}\index{sourcelabel@\texttt{SOURCELABEL}}.

\mysect{Summary}{labelsum}

Table~\href{t:labelcparms} 
lists all of the
configuration parameters  recognised by \htool{HLabel}
along with a brief description.  A missing module name means 
that it is recognised by
more than one module. 

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{|p{1.4cm}|p{3.0cm}|p{6.4cm}|} \hline
Module & Name  & Description  \\ \hline
\htool{HLabel} & \texttt{LABELSQUOTE}  & Specify label quote character \\
\htool{HLabel} & \texttt{SOURCELABEL}    & Source label format \\
\htool{HLabel} & \texttt{SOURCERATE}    & Sample period for SCRIBE format \\
\htool{HLabel} & \texttt{STRIPTRIPHONES} & Remove triphone contexts on input \\
\htool{HLabel} & \texttt{TARGETLABEL}    &  Target label format\\
\htool{HLabel} & \texttt{TRANSALT}  & Filter alternatives on input \\
\htool{HLabel} & \texttt{TRANSLEV}  & Filter levels on input \\
\htool{HLabel} & \texttt{V1COMPAT}  & Version 1.5 compatibility mode \\
               & \texttt{TRACE}           & trace control (default=0) \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\tabcap{labelcparms}{Configuration Parameters used with Labels}
\end{center}


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