Acoustic signal processing of fundamental frequency (f0) dynamics in persuasive sentences from Indonesian presidential campaign videos

¹ Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, 13220, Indonesia
² Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, 81116, Indonesia
³ Faculty of Language and Communication, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 2 July 2026

Abstract

Political discourse studies have developed significantly; however, most previous research has primarily focused on textual linguistic aspects, while prosodic features remain underexplored. This study investigates the intonational contours and Fundamental Frequency (f0) dynamics of persuasive sentences in Indonesian presidential campaign discourse. A computational phonetics approach was employed using Python libraries, namely Parselmouth and NumPy. The data consisted of campaign videos presenting the visions, missions, and policy programs of the three Indonesian presidential candidates: Anies, Prabowo, and Ganjar, published by Kompas TV news portal. The findings reveal distinctive f0 patterns and pitch contour characteristics among the candidates. Anies demonstrates more varied intonational movements, with a maximum f0 of 299.23 Hz, a minimum f0 of 75.06 Hz, and a pitch range of 224.17 Hz. Prabowo exhibits a denser and more stable pitch contour, with a maximum f0 of 299.98 Hz, a minimum f0 of 74.96 Hz, and a pitch range of 225.02 Hz. Meanwhile, Ganjar shows a relatively wider and more dispersed pitch contour, with a maximum f0 of 298.41 Hz, a minimum f0 of 75.05 Hz, and a pitch range of 223.36 Hz. These findings indicate that f0 dynamics contribute significantly to political persuasion and communicative style.