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A ToBI transcription for an utterance consists minimally of a recording of the speech, an associated record of the fundamental frequency contour, and (the transcription proper) symbolic labels for events on the following four parallel tiers:

1. an orthographic tier

2. a tone tier

3. a break-index tier

4. a miscellaneous tier

Conventions are specified for both simple text-based transcription using this system and for wavesTM label files and formats to accompany a speech file and associated time-aligned analysis records for the utterance. We first summarize the conventions assuming a computer-based labeling system such as wavesTM label files and formats. A final section (Section 9), provided by Jacques Terken and Mari Ostendorf, summarizes the added guidelines for adapting the conventions to simple text-based transcription.