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Valdis Vitolins
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6. ADDING OR IMPROVING A LANGUAGE {.western}
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---------------------------------
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Most of the work doesn't need any programming knowledge. Just an
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understanding of the language, an awareness of its features, patience
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and attention to detail. Wikipedia is a good source of basic phonetic
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information, eg
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel).
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In many cases it should be fairly easy to add a rough implementation of
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a new language, hopefully enough to be intelligible. After that it's a
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gradual process of improvement.
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### 6.1 Language Code {.western}
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Generally, the language's international [ISO
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639-1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-1) code is used to identify
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the language. It is used in the filenames which contain the language's
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data. In the examples below the code **"fr"** is used as an example.
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Replace this with the code of your language.
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If the language does not have a 2-letter ISO\_639-1 code, then use the
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3-letter ISO\_639-3 code. Language codes may differ from country codes.
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It is possible to have different variants of a language for different
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dialects. For example the sound of some phonemes are changed, or some of
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the pronunciation rules differ.
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### 6.2 Language Files {.western}
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The following files are needed for your language.
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- - - -
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The **fr\_rules** and **fr\_list** files are compiled to produce the
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file **espeak-data/fr\_dict**, which eSpeak uses when it is speaking.
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### 6.3 Voice File {.western}
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Each language needs a voice file in **espeak-data/voices** or
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**espeak-data/voices/test**. The filename of the default voice for a
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language should be the same as the language code (eg. "fr" for French).
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Details of the contents of voice files are given in
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[voices.html](http://espeak.sf.net/voices.html).
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The simplest voice file would contain just 2 lines to give the language
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name and language code, eg:
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~~~~ {.western}
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name french
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language fr
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~~~~
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This language code specifies which phoneme table and dictionary to use
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(i.e. **phonemetable fr** and **espeak-data/fr\_dict**) to be used. If
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needed, these can be overridden by **phonemes** and **dictionary**
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attributes in the voice file. For example you may want to start the
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implementation of a new language by using the phoneme table of an
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existing language.
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### 6.4 Phoneme Definition File {.western}
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You must first decide on the set of phonemes (vowel and consonant
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sounds) for the language. These should be defined in a phoneme
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definition file **ph\_xxxx**, where "ph\_xxxx" is the name of your
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language. A reference to this file is then included at the end of the
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master phoneme file, **phsource/phonemes**, eg:
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~~~~ {.western}
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phonemetable fr base
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include ph_french
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~~~~
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This example defines a phoneme table **"fr"** which inherits the
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contents of phoneme table **"base"**. Its contents are found in the file
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**ph\_french**.
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The **base** phoneme table contains definitions of a basic set of
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consonants, and also some "control" phonemes such as stress marks and
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pauses. These are defined in **phsource/phonemes**. The phoneme table
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for a language will inherit these, or alternatively it may inherit the
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phoneme table of another language which in turn inherits the **base**
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phoneme table.
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The phonemes file for the language defines those additional phonemes
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which are not inherited (generally the vowels and diphthongs, plus any
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additional consonants that are needed), or phonemes whose definitions
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differ from the inherited version (eg. the redefinition of a consonant).
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Details of phonemes files are given in
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[phontab.html](http://espeak.sf.net/phontab.html).
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The **Compile phoneme data** function of the **espeakedit** program
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compiles the phonemes files of all languages to produce the files
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**espeak-data/phontab**, **phonindex**, and **phondata** which are used
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by eSpeak.
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For many languages, the consonant phonemes which are already available
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in eSpeak, together with the available vowel files which can be used to
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define vowel phonemes, will be sufficient. At least for an initial
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implementation.
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### 6.5 Dictionary Files {.western}
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Once the language's phonemes have been defined, then pronunciation
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dictionary data can be produced in order to translate the language's
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source text into phonemes. This consists of two source files:
|
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**fr\_rules** (the spelling to phoneme rules) and **fr\_list** (an
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exceptions list, and attributes of certain words). The corresponding
|
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compiled data file is **espeak-data/fr\_dict** which is produced from
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**fr\_rules** and **fr\_list** sources by the command:
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> `espeak-ng --compile=fr`{.western}.
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Or by using the **espeakedit** program.
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Details of the contents of the dictionary files are given in
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[dictionary.html](http://espeak.sf.net/dictionary.html).
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The **fr\_list** file contains:
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- - - -
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### 6.6 Program Code {.western}
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The behaviour of the eSpeak program is controlled by various options
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such as:
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- - - -
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The function SetTranslator() at the start of the source code file
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tr\_languages.cpp recognizes the language code and sets the appropriate
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options. For a new language, you would add its language code and the
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required options in SetTranslator(). However, this may not be necessary
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during testing because most of the options can also be set in the voice
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file in espeak-data/voices (see [Voice
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files](http://espeak.sf.net/voices.html)).
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### 6.7 Improving a Language {.western}
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Listen carefully to the eSpeak voice. Try to identify what sounds wrong
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and what needs to be improved.
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- - - - -
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**If you are interested in working on a language, please contact me so
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that I can set up the initial data and discuss the features of the
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language.**
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For most of the eSpeak voices, I do not speak or understand the
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language, and I do not know how it should sound. I can only make
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improvements as a result of feedback from speakers of that language. If
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you want to help to improve a language, listen carefully and try to
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identify individual errors, either in the spelling-to-phoneme
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translation, the position of stressed syllables within words, or the
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sound of phonemes, or problems with rhythm and vowel lengths.
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+101
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
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ANALYSIS
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========
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(Further notes are needed)
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||||
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||||
Recordings of spoken words and phrases can be analysed to try and make
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eSpeak match a language more closely. Unlike most other (larger and
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||||
better quality) synthesizers, eSpeak's data is not produced directly
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from recorded sounds. To use an analogy, it's like a drawing or sketch
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||||
compared with a photograph. Or vector graphics compared with a bitmap
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||||
image. It's smaller, less accurate, with less subtlety, but it can
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||||
sometimes show some aspects of the picture more clearly than a more
|
||||
accurate image.
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#### Recording Sounds {.western}
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Recordings should be made while speaking slowly, clearly, and firmly and
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loudly (but not shouting). Speak about half a metre from the microphone.
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Try to avoid background noise and hum interference from electrical power
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cables.
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#### Praat {.western}
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I use a modified version of the praat program
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([www.praat.org](www.praat.org)) to view and analyse both sound
|
||||
recordings and output from eSpeak. The modification adds a new function
|
||||
(`Spectrum->To_eSpeak`{.western}) which analysis a voiced sound and
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||||
produces a file which can be loaded into espeakedit. Details of the
|
||||
modification are in the `"praat-mod"`{.western} directory in the
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espeakedit package. The analysis contains a sequence of frames, one per
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cycle at the speech's fundamental frequency. Each frame is a short time
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||||
spectrum, together with praat's estimation of the f1 to f5 formant
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frequencies at the time of that cycle. I also use Praat's
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`New->Record_mono_sound`{.western} function to make sound recordings.
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||||
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||||
### Vowels and Diphthongs {.western}
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||||
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||||
#### Analysing a Recording {.western}
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||||
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||||
Make a recording, with a male voice, and trim it in Praat to keep just
|
||||
the required vowel sound. Then use the new
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||||
`Spectrum->To_eSpeak`{.western} modification (this was named
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||||
`To_Spectrogram2`{.western} in earlier versions) to analyse the sound.
|
||||
It produces a file named `"spectrum.dat"`{.western}. Load the
|
||||
`"spectrum.dat"`{.western} file into espeakedit. Espeakedit has two Open
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||||
functions, `File->Open`{.western} and `File->Open2`{.western}. They are
|
||||
the same, except that they remember different paths. I generally use
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`File->Open2`{.western} for reading the `"spectrum.dat"`{.western} file.
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The data is displayed in espeakedit as a sequence of spectrum frames
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||||
(see [editor.html](editor.html)).
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#### Tone Quality {.western}
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It can be difficult to match the tonal quality of a new vowel to be
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compatible with existing vowel files. This is determined by the relative
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heights and widths of the formant peaks. These vary depending on how the
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||||
recording was made, the microphone, and the strength and tone of the
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voice. Also the positions of the higher peaks (F3 upwards) can vary
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depending on the characteristics of the speaker's voice. Formant peaks
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correspond to resonances within the mouth and throat, and they depend on
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its size and shape. With a female voice, all the formants (F1 upwards)
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are generally shifted to higher frequencies. For these reasons, it's
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||||
best to use a male voice, and to use its analysed spectra only as
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||||
guidance. Rather than construct formant-peaks entirely to match the
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analysed data, instead copy keyframes from a similar existing vowel.
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Then make small adjustments to match the position of the F1, F2, F3
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formant peaks and hopefully produce the required vowel sound.
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#### Using an Existing Vowel File {.western}
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Choose a similar vowel file from `phsource/vowel`{.western} and open it
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into espeakedit. It may be useful to use
|
||||
`phsource/vowel/vowelchart`{.western} as a map to show how vowel files
|
||||
compare with each other. You can select a keyframe from the vowel file
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||||
and use CTRL-C and CTRL-V to copy the green formant peaks onto a frame
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of the new spectrum sequence. Then adjust the peaks to match the new
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||||
frame. Press F1 to hear the sound of the formant peaks in the selected
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frame. The F0 peak is provided in order to adjust the correct balance of
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||||
low frequencies, below the F1 peak. If the sound is too muffled, or
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conversely, too "thin", try adjusting the amplitude or position of the
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F0 peak.
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#### Length and Amplitude {.western}
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||||
Use an existing vowel file as a guide for how to set the amplitude and
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length of the keyframes. At the right of each keyframe, its length is
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||||
shown in mS and under that is its relative (RMS) amplitude. The second
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keyframe should be marked with a red marker (use CTRL-M to toggle this).
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This divides the vowel into the front-part (with one frame), and the
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rest. Use F2 to play the sound of the new vowel sequence. It will also
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produce a WAV file (the default name is speech.wav) which you can read
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into praat to see whether it has a sensible shape.
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#### Using the New Vowel {.western}
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Make a new directory (eg. vwl\_xx) in phsource for your new vowels. Save
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the spectrum sequence with a name which you have chosen for it. You can
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then edit the phoneme file for your language (eg. phsource/ph\_xxx), and
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change a phoneme to refer to your new vowel file. Then do
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`Data->Compile_Phoneme_Data`{.western} from espeakedit's menubar to
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re-compile the phoneme data.
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@@ -0,0 +1,279 @@
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2.1 INSTALLATION {.western}
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----------------
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### 2.1.1 Linux and other Posix systems {.western}
|
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There are two versions of the command line program. They both have the
|
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same command parameters (see below).
|
||||
|
||||
1. 2.
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||||
Place the **espeak-ng** or **speak-ng** executable file in the command
|
||||
path, eg in **/usr/local/bin**
|
||||
|
||||
Place the "**espeak-data**" directory in /usr/share as
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||||
**/usr/share/espeak-data**.\
|
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Alternatively if it is placed in the user's home directory (i.e.
|
||||
**/home/\<user\>/espeak-data**) then that will be used instead.
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||||
#### Dependencies {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**espeak-ng** uses the PortAudio sound library (version 18), so you will
|
||||
need to have the **libportaudio0** library package installed. It may be
|
||||
already, since it's used by other software, such as OpenOffice.org and
|
||||
the Audacity sound editor.
|
||||
|
||||
Some Linux distrubitions (eg. SuSe 10) have version 19 of PortAudio
|
||||
which has a slightly different API. The speak program can be compiled to
|
||||
use version 19 of PortAudio by copying the file portaudio19.h to
|
||||
portaudio.h before compiling.
|
||||
|
||||
The speak program may be compiled without using PortAudio, by removing
|
||||
the line
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
#define USE_PORTAUDIO
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
in the file speech.h.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2.1.2 Windows {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The installer: **setup\_espeak.exe** installs the SAPI5 version of
|
||||
eSpeak. During installation you need to specify which voices you want to
|
||||
appear in SAPI5 voice menus.
|
||||
|
||||
It also installs a command line program **espeak-ng** in the espeak-ng
|
||||
program directory.
|
||||
|
||||
2.2 COMMAND OPTIONS {.western}
|
||||
-------------------
|
||||
|
||||
### 2.2.1 Examples {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
To use at the command line, type:\
|
||||
**espeak-ng "This is a test"**\
|
||||
or\
|
||||
**espeak-ng -f \<text file\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Or just type\
|
||||
**espeak-ng**\
|
||||
followed by text on subsequent lines. Each line is spoken when RETURN
|
||||
is pressed.
|
||||
|
||||
Use **espeak-ng -x** to see the corresponding phoneme codes.
|
||||
|
||||
### 2.2.2 The Command Line Options {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**espeak-ng [options] ["text words"]**
|
||||
: Text input can be taken either from a file, from a string in the
|
||||
command, or from stdin.
|
||||
**-f \<text file\>**
|
||||
: Speaks a text file.
|
||||
**--stdin**
|
||||
: Takes the text input from stdin.
|
||||
If neither -f nor --stdin is given, then the text input is taken from "text words" (a text string within double quotes). \
|
||||
If that is not present then text is taken from stdin, but each line is treated as a separate sentence. \
|
||||
**-a \<integer\>**
|
||||
: Sets amplitude (volume) in a range of 0 to 200. The default is 100.
|
||||
**-p \<integer\>**
|
||||
: Adjusts the pitch in a range of 0 to 99. The default is 50.
|
||||
**-s \<integer\>**
|
||||
: Sets the speed in words-per-minute (approximate values for the
|
||||
default English voice, others may differ slightly). The default
|
||||
value is 175. I generally use a faster speed of 260. The lower limit
|
||||
is 80. There is no upper limit, but about 500 is probably a
|
||||
practical maximum.
|
||||
**-b \<integer\>**
|
||||
: Input text character format.
|
||||
: 1 UTF-8. This is the default.
|
||||
: 2 The 8-bit character set which corresponds to the language (eg.
|
||||
Latin-2 for Polish).
|
||||
: 4 16 bit Unicode.
|
||||
: Without this option, eSpeak assumes text is UTF-8, but will
|
||||
automatically switch to the 8-bit character set if it finds an
|
||||
illegal UTF-8 sequence.
|
||||
**-g \<integer\>**
|
||||
: Word gap. This option inserts a pause between words. The value is
|
||||
the length of the pause, in units of 10 mS (at the default speed of
|
||||
170 wpm).
|
||||
**-h**or **--help**
|
||||
: The first line of output gives the eSpeak version number.
|
||||
**-k \<integer\>**
|
||||
: Indicate words which begin with capital letters.
|
||||
: 1 eSpeak uses a click sound to indicate when a word starts with a
|
||||
capital letter, or double click if word is all capitals.
|
||||
: 2 eSpeak speaks the word "capital" before a word which begins with
|
||||
a capital letter.
|
||||
: Other values: eSpeak increases the pitch for words which begin
|
||||
with a capital letter. The greater the value, the greater the
|
||||
increase in pitch. Try -k20.
|
||||
**-l \<integer\>**
|
||||
: Line-break length, default value 0. If set, then lines which are
|
||||
shorter than this are treated as separate clauses and spoken
|
||||
separately with a break between them. This can be useful for some
|
||||
text files, but bad for others.
|
||||
**-m**
|
||||
: Indicates that the text contains SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup
|
||||
Language) tags or other XML tags. Those SSML tags which are
|
||||
supported are interpreted. Other tags, including HTML, are ignored,
|
||||
except that some HTML tags such as \<hr\> \<h2\> and \<li\> ensure a
|
||||
break in the speech.
|
||||
**-q**
|
||||
: Quiet. No sound is generated. This may be useful with options such
|
||||
as -x and --pho.
|
||||
**-v \<voice filename\>[+\<variant\>]**
|
||||
: Sets a Voice for the speech, usually to select a language. eg:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-left: 1cm; margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
espeak-ng -vaf
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
To use the Afrikaans voice. A modifier after the voice name can be used
|
||||
to vary the tone of the voice, eg:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-left: 1cm; margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
espeak-ng -vaf+3
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
The variants are `+m1 +m2 +m3 +m4 +m5 +m6 +m7`{.western} for male voices
|
||||
and `+f1 +f2 +f3 +f4 `{.western}which simulate female voices by using
|
||||
higher pitches. Other variants include `+croak`{.western} and
|
||||
`+whisper`{.western}.
|
||||
|
||||
\<voice filename\> is a file within the `espeak-data/voices`{.western}
|
||||
directory.\
|
||||
\<variant\> is a file within the `espeak-data/voices/!v`{.western}
|
||||
directory.
|
||||
|
||||
Voice files can specify a language, alternative pronunciations or
|
||||
phoneme sets, different pitches, tonal qualities, and prosody for the
|
||||
voice. See the [voices.html](voices.html) file.
|
||||
|
||||
Voice names which start with **mb-** are for use with Mbrola diphone
|
||||
voices, see [mbrola.html](mbrola.html)
|
||||
|
||||
Some languages may need additional dictionary data, see
|
||||
[languages.html](languages.html)
|
||||
|
||||
**-w \<wave file\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Writes the speech output to a file in WAV format, rather than speaking
|
||||
it.
|
||||
|
||||
**-x**
|
||||
|
||||
The phoneme mnemonics, into which the input text is translated, are
|
||||
written to stdout. If a phoneme name contains more than one letter (eg.
|
||||
[tS]), the --sep or --tie option can be used to distinguish this from
|
||||
separate phonemes.
|
||||
|
||||
**-X**
|
||||
|
||||
As -x, but in addition, details are shown of the pronunciation rule and
|
||||
dictionary list lookup. This can be useful to see why a certain
|
||||
pronunciation is being produced. Each matching pronunciation rule is
|
||||
listed, together with its score, the highest scoring rule being used in
|
||||
the translation. "Found:" indicates the word was found in the dictionary
|
||||
lookup list, and "Flags:" means the word was found with only properties
|
||||
and not a pronunciation. You can see when a word has been retranslated
|
||||
after removing a prefix or suffix.
|
||||
|
||||
**-z**
|
||||
|
||||
The option removes the end-of-sentence pause which normally occurs at
|
||||
the end of the text.
|
||||
|
||||
**--stdout**
|
||||
|
||||
Writes the speech output to stdout as it is produced, rather than
|
||||
speaking it. The data starts with a WAV file header which indicates the
|
||||
sample rate and format of the data. The length field is set to zero
|
||||
because the length of the data is unknown when the header is produced.
|
||||
|
||||
**--compile [=\<voice name\>]**
|
||||
|
||||
Compile the pronunciation rule and dictionary lookup data from their
|
||||
source files in the current directory. The Voice determines which
|
||||
language's files are compiled. For example, if it's an English voice,
|
||||
then *en\_rules*, *en\_list*, and *en\_extra* (if present), are compiled
|
||||
to replace *en\_dict* in the *speak-data* directory. If no Voice is
|
||||
specified then the default Voice is used.
|
||||
|
||||
**--compile-debug [=\<voice name\>]**
|
||||
|
||||
The same as **--compile**, but source line numbers from the \*\_rules
|
||||
file are included. These are included in the rules trace when the **-X**
|
||||
option is used.
|
||||
|
||||
**--ipa**
|
||||
|
||||
Writes phonemes to stdout, using the International Phonetic Alphabet
|
||||
(IPA).\
|
||||
If a phoneme name contains more than one letter (eg. [tS]), the --sep
|
||||
or --tie option can be used to distinguish this from separate phonemes.
|
||||
|
||||
**--path [="\<directory path\>"]**
|
||||
|
||||
Specifies the directory which contains the espeak-data directory.
|
||||
|
||||
**--pho**
|
||||
|
||||
When used with an mbrola voice (eg. -v mb-en1), it writes mbrola phoneme
|
||||
data (.pho file format) to stdout. This includes the mbrola phoneme
|
||||
names with duration and pitch information, in a form which is suitable
|
||||
as input to this mbrola voice. The --phonout option can be used to write
|
||||
this data to a file.
|
||||
|
||||
**--phonout [="\<filename\>"]**
|
||||
|
||||
If specified, the output from -x, -X, --ipa, and --pho options is
|
||||
written to this file, rather than to stdout.
|
||||
|
||||
**--punct [="\<characters\>"]**
|
||||
|
||||
Speaks the names of punctuation characters when they are encountered in
|
||||
the text. If \<characters\> are given, then only those listed
|
||||
punctuation characters are spoken, eg. `--punct=".,;?"`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**--sep [=\<character\>]**
|
||||
|
||||
The character is used to separate individual phonemes in the output
|
||||
which is produced by the -x or --ipa options. The default is a space
|
||||
character. The character z means use a ZWNJ character (U+200c).
|
||||
|
||||
**--split [=\<minutes\>]**
|
||||
|
||||
Used with **-w**, it starts a new WAV file every `<minutes>`{.western}
|
||||
minutes, at the next sentence boundary.
|
||||
|
||||
**--tie [=\<character\>]**
|
||||
|
||||
The character is used within multi-letter phonemes in the output which
|
||||
is produced by the -x or --ipa options. The default is the tie
|
||||
character ͡ U+361. The character z means use a ZWJ character (U+200d).
|
||||
|
||||
**--voices [=\<language code\>]**
|
||||
|
||||
Lists the available voices.\
|
||||
If =\<language code\> is present then only those voices which are
|
||||
suitable for that language are listed.\
|
||||
`--voices=mbrola`{.western} lists the voices which use mbrola diphone
|
||||
voices. These are not included in the default `--voices`{.western} list\
|
||||
`--voices=variant`{.western} lists the available voice variants (voice
|
||||
modifiers).
|
||||
|
||||
### 2.2.3 The Input Text {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**HTML Input**
|
||||
: If the -m option is used to indicate marked-up text, then HTML can
|
||||
be spoken directly.
|
||||
**Phoneme Input**
|
||||
: As well as plain text, phoneme mnemonics can be used in the text
|
||||
input to **espeak-ng**. They are enclosed within double square
|
||||
brackets. Spaces are used to separate words and all stressed
|
||||
syllables must be marked explicitly.
|
||||
: eg:
|
||||
`espeak-ng -v en "[[D,Is Iz sVm f@n'EtIk t'Ekst 'InpUt]]" `{.western}
|
||||
: This command will speak: "This is some phonetic text input".
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,655 @@
|
||||
4. TEXT TO PHONEME TRANSLATION {.western}
|
||||
------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.1 Translation Files {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
There is a separate set of pronunciation files for each language, their
|
||||
names starting with the language name.
|
||||
|
||||
There are two separate methods for translating words into phonemes:
|
||||
|
||||
- -
|
||||
|
||||
These two files are compiled into the file ***\<language\>\_dict*** in
|
||||
the espeak-data directory (eg. espeak-data/en\_dict)
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.2 Phoneme names {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Each of the language's phonemes is represented by a mnemonic of 1, 2, 3,
|
||||
or 4 characters. Together with a number of utility codes (eg. stress
|
||||
marks and pauses), these are defined in the phoneme data file (see
|
||||
\*spec not yet available\*).
|
||||
|
||||
The utility 'phonemes' are:
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **'** | primary stress |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **,** | secondary stress |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **%** | unstressed syllable |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **= ** | put the primary stress on the |
|
||||
| | preceding syllable |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\_:** | short pause |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\_** | a shorter pause |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **||** | indicates a word boundary within a |
|
||||
| | phoneme string |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **|** | can be used to separate two adjacent |
|
||||
| | characters, to prevent them from |
|
||||
| | being considered as a |
|
||||
| | multi-character phoneme mnemonic |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
It is not necessary to specify the stress of every syllable. Stress
|
||||
markers are only needed in order to change the effect of the language's
|
||||
default stress rule.
|
||||
|
||||
The phonemes which are used to represent a language's sounds are based
|
||||
loosely on the Kirshenbaum ascii character representation of the
|
||||
International Phonetic Alphabet
|
||||
[www.kirshenbaum.net/IPA/ascii-ipa.pdf](http://www.kirshenbaum.net/IPA/ascii-ipa.pdf)
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.3 Pronunciation Rules {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The rules in the ***\<language\>\_rules*** file specify the phonemes
|
||||
which are used to pronounce each letter, or sequence of letters. Some
|
||||
rules only apply when the letter or letters are preceded by, or followed
|
||||
by, other specified letters.
|
||||
|
||||
To find the pronunciation of a word, the rules are searched and any
|
||||
which match the letters at the in the word are given a score depending
|
||||
on how many letters are matched. The pronunciation from the best
|
||||
matching rule is chosen. The pointer into the source word is then
|
||||
advanced past those letters which have been matched and the process is
|
||||
repeated until all the letters of the word have been processed.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.3.1 Rule Groups {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The rules are organized in groups, each starting with a ".group" line:
|
||||
|
||||
When matching a word, firstly the 2-letter group for the two letters at
|
||||
the current position in the word (if such a group exists) is searched,
|
||||
and then the single-letter group. The highest scoring rule in either of
|
||||
those two groups is used.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.3.2 Rules {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Each rule is on separate line, and has the syntax:
|
||||
|
||||
eg.
|
||||
|
||||
"oo" is pronounced as [u:], but when also preceded by "b" and followed
|
||||
by "k", it is pronounced [U].
|
||||
|
||||
In the case of a single-letter group, the first character of \<match\>
|
||||
much be the group letter. In the case of a 2-letter group, the first two
|
||||
characters of \<match\> must be the group letters. The second and third
|
||||
rules above may be in either .group o or .group oo
|
||||
|
||||
Alphabetic characters in the \<pre\>, \<match\>, and \<post\> parts must
|
||||
be lower case, and matching is case-insensitive. Some upper case letters
|
||||
are used in \<pre\> and \<post\> with special meanings.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.3.3 Special characters in \<phoneme string\>: {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\_\^\_\<language code\> ** | Translate using a different |
|
||||
| | language. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.3.4 Special Characters in both \<pre\> and \<post\>: {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\_** | Beginning or end of a word (or a |
|
||||
| | hyphen). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **-** | Hyphen. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **A** | Any vowel (the set of vowel |
|
||||
| | characters may be defined for a |
|
||||
| | particular language). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **C** | Any consonant. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **B H F G Y ** | These may indicate other sets of |
|
||||
| | characters (defined for a particular |
|
||||
| | language). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **L\<nn\>** | Any of the sequence of characters |
|
||||
| | defined as a letter group (see 4.3.1 |
|
||||
| | above). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **D** | Any digit. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **K** | Not a vowel (i.e. a consonant or |
|
||||
| | word boundary or non-alphabetic |
|
||||
| | character). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **X** | There is no vowel until the word |
|
||||
| | boundary. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **Z** | A non-alphabetic character. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **%** | Doubled (placed before a character |
|
||||
| | in \<pre\> and after it in \<post\>. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **/** | The following character is treated |
|
||||
| | literally. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
The sets of letters indicated by A, B, C, E, F G may be defined
|
||||
differently for each language.
|
||||
|
||||
Examples of rules:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
_) a // "a" at the start of a word
|
||||
a (CC // "a" followed by two consonants
|
||||
a (C% // "a" followed by a double consonant (the same letter twice)
|
||||
a (/% // "a" followed by a percent sign
|
||||
%C) a // "a" preceded by a double consonants
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.3.5 Special characters only in \<pre\>: {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **@ ** | Any syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **&** | A syllable which may be stressed |
|
||||
| | (i.e. is not defined as unstressed). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **V** | Matches only if a previous word has |
|
||||
| | indicated that a verb form is |
|
||||
| | expected. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
@@) bi // "bi" preceded by at least two syllables
|
||||
@@a) bi // "bi" preceded by at least 2 syllables and following 'a'
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
Note, that matching characters in the \<pre\> part do not affect the
|
||||
syllable counting.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.3.6 Special characters only in \<post\>: {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **@** | A vowel follows somewhere in the |
|
||||
| | word. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **+** | Force an increase in the score in |
|
||||
| | this rule (may be repeated for more |
|
||||
| | effect). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **S\<number\> ** | This number of matching characters |
|
||||
| | are a standard suffix, remove them |
|
||||
| | and retranslate the word. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **P\<number\>** | This number of matching characters |
|
||||
| | are a standard prefix, remove them |
|
||||
| | and retranslate the word. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **Lnn** | **nn** is a 2-digit decimal number |
|
||||
| | in the range 01 to 20\ |
|
||||
| | Matches with any of the letter |
|
||||
| | sequences which have been defined |
|
||||
| | for letter group **nn** |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **N** | Only use this rule if the word is |
|
||||
| | not a retranslation after removing a |
|
||||
| | suffix. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\#** | (English specific) change the next |
|
||||
| | "e" into a special character "E" |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\$noprefix** | Only use this rule if the word is |
|
||||
| | not a retranslation after removing a |
|
||||
| | prefix. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\$w\_alt\ | Only use this rule if the word is |
|
||||
| \$w\_alt2\ | found in the \*\_list file with the |
|
||||
| \$w\_alt3** | **\$alt**, **\$alt2** or **\$alt3** |
|
||||
| | attribute respectively. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\$p\_alt\ | Only use this rule if the part-word, |
|
||||
| \$p\_alt2\ | up to and including the pre and |
|
||||
| \$p\_alt3** | match parts of this rule, is found |
|
||||
| | in the \*\_list file with the |
|
||||
| | **\$alt**, **\$alt2** or **\$alt3** |
|
||||
| | attribute respectively. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
@) ly (_S2 lI // "ly", at end of a word with at least one other
|
||||
// syllable, is a suffix pronounced [lI]. Remove
|
||||
// it and retranslate the word.
|
||||
|
||||
_) un (@P2 %Vn // "un" at the start of a word is an unstressed
|
||||
// prefix pronounced [Vn]
|
||||
_) un (i ju: // ... except in words starting "uni"
|
||||
_) un (inP2 ,Vn // ... but it is for words starting "unin"
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
S and P must be at the end of the \<post\> string.
|
||||
|
||||
S\<number\> may be followed by additional letters (eg. S2ei ). Some of
|
||||
these are probably specific to English, but similar functions could be
|
||||
made for other languages.
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **q** | query the \_list file to find stress |
|
||||
| | position or other attributes for the |
|
||||
| | stem, but don't re-translate the |
|
||||
| | word with the suffix removed. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **t** | determine the stress pattern of the |
|
||||
| | word **before** adding the suffix |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **d ** | the previous letter may have been |
|
||||
| | doubled when the suffix was added. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **e** | "e" may have been removed. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **i** | "y" may have been changed to "i." |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **v** | the suffix means the verb form of |
|
||||
| | pronunciation should be used. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **f** | the suffix means the next word is |
|
||||
| | likely to be a verb. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **m** | after this suffix has been removed, |
|
||||
| | additional suffixes may be removed. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
P\<number\> may be followed by additonal letters (eg. P3v ).
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **t ** | determine the stress pattern of the |
|
||||
| | word **before** adding the prefix |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **v** | the suffix means the verb form of |
|
||||
| | pronunciation should be used. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.4 Pronunciation Dictionary List {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The ***\<language\>\_list*** file contains a list of words whose
|
||||
pronunciations are given explicitly, rather than determined by the
|
||||
Pronunciation Rules. The ***\<language\>\_extra*** file, if present, is
|
||||
also used and it's contents are taken as coming after those in
|
||||
***\<language\>\_list***.
|
||||
|
||||
Also the list can be used to specify the stress pattern, or other
|
||||
properties, of a word.
|
||||
|
||||
If the Pronunciation rules are applied to a word and indicate a standard
|
||||
prefix or suffix, then the word is again looked up in Pronunciation
|
||||
Dictionary List after the prefix or suffix has been removed.
|
||||
|
||||
Lines in the dictionary list have the form:
|
||||
|
||||
eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
book bUk
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
Rather than a full pronunciation, just the stress may be given, to
|
||||
change where it would be otherwise placed by the Pronunciation Rules:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
berlin $2 // stress on second syllable
|
||||
absolutely $3 // stress on third syllable
|
||||
for $u // an unstressed word
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.4.1 Multiple Words {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
A pronunciation may also be specified for a group of words, when these
|
||||
appear together. Up to four words may be given, enclosed in brackets.
|
||||
This may be used for change the pronunciation or stress pattern when
|
||||
these words occur together,
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
(de jure) deI||dZ'U@rI2 // note || used as a word break in the phoneme string
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
or to run them together, pronounced as a single word
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
(of a) @v@
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
or to give them a flag when they occur together
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
(such as) sVtS||a2z $pause // precede with a pause
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
Hyphenated words in the ***\<language\>\_list*** file must also be
|
||||
enclosed within brackets, because the two parts are considered as
|
||||
separate words.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.4.2 Special characters in \<phoneme string\>: {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| **\_\^\_\<language code\> ** | Translate using a different |
|
||||
| | language. See explanation in 4.3.3 |
|
||||
| | above. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.4.3 Flags {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
A word (or group of words) may be given one or more flags, either
|
||||
instead of, or as well as, the phonetic translation.
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$u | The word is unstressed. In the case |
|
||||
| | of a multi-syllable word, a slight |
|
||||
| | stress is applied according to the |
|
||||
| | default stress rules. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$u1 | The word is unstressed, with a |
|
||||
| | slight stress on its 1st syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$u2 | The word is unstressed, with a |
|
||||
| | slight stress on its 2nd syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$u3 | The word is unstressed, with a |
|
||||
| | slight stress on its 3rd syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| | |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$u+ \$u1+ \$u2+ \$u3+ | As above, but the word has full |
|
||||
| | stress if it's at the end of a |
|
||||
| | clause. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| | |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$1 | Primary stress on the 1st syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$2 | Primary stress on the 2nd syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$3 | Primary stress on the 3rd syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$4 | Primary stress on the 4th syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$5 | Primary stress on the 5th syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$6 | Primary stress on the 6th syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$7 | Primary stress on the 7th syllable. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| | |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$pause | Ensure a short pause before this |
|
||||
| | word (eg. for conjunctions such as |
|
||||
| | "and", some prepositions, etc). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$brk | Ensure a very short pause before |
|
||||
| | this word, shorter than \$pause (eg. |
|
||||
| | for some prepositions, etc). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$only | The rule does not apply if a prefix |
|
||||
| | or suffix has already been removed. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$onlys | As \$only, except that a standard |
|
||||
| | plural ending is allowed. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$stem | The rule only applies if a suffix |
|
||||
| | has already been removed. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$strend | Word is fully stressed if it's at |
|
||||
| | the end of a clause. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$strend2 | As \$strend, but the word is also |
|
||||
| | stressed if followed only by |
|
||||
| | unstressed word(s). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$unstressend | Word is unstressed if it's at the |
|
||||
| | end of a clause. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$atend | Use this pronunciation if it's at |
|
||||
| | the end of a clause. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$double | Cause a doubling of the initial |
|
||||
| | consonant of the following word |
|
||||
| | (used for Italian). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$capital | Use this pronunciation if the word |
|
||||
| | has initial capital letter (eg. |
|
||||
| | polish v Polish). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$allcaps | Use this pronunciation if the word |
|
||||
| | is all capitals. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$dot | Ignore a . after this word even when |
|
||||
| | followed by a capital letter (eg. |
|
||||
| | Mr. Dr. ). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$hasdot | Use this pronunciation if the word |
|
||||
| | is followed by a dot. (This |
|
||||
| | attribute also implies \$dot). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$sentence | The rule only applies if the clause |
|
||||
| | includes end-of-sentence (i.e. it is |
|
||||
| | not terminated by a comma). For |
|
||||
| | example, "\$atend \$sentence" means |
|
||||
| | that the rule only applies at the |
|
||||
| | end of a sentence. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$abbrev | This has two meanings.\ |
|
||||
| | 1. If there is no phoneme string: |
|
||||
| | Speak the word as individual |
|
||||
| | letters, even if it contains a vowel |
|
||||
| | (eg. "abc" should be spoken as "a" |
|
||||
| | "b" "c").\ |
|
||||
| | 2. If there is a phoneme string: |
|
||||
| | This word is capitalized because it |
|
||||
| | is an abbreviation and |
|
||||
| | capitalization does not indicate |
|
||||
| | emphasis (if the "emphasize |
|
||||
| | all-caps" is on). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| | |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$accent | Used for the pronunciation of a |
|
||||
| | single alphabetic character. The |
|
||||
| | character name is spoken as the |
|
||||
| | base-letter name plus the accent |
|
||||
| | (diacritic) name. eg. It can be used |
|
||||
| | to specify that "â" is spoken as "a" |
|
||||
| | "circumflex". |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$combine | This word is treated as though it is |
|
||||
| | combined with the following word |
|
||||
| | with a hyphen. This may be subject |
|
||||
| | to fuither conditions for certain |
|
||||
| | languages. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$alt \$alt2 \$alt3 | These are language specific. Their |
|
||||
| | use should be described in the |
|
||||
| | language's \*\*\_list file |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| | |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$verb | Use this pronunciation if it's a |
|
||||
| | verb. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$noun | Use this pronunciation if it's a |
|
||||
| | noun. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$past | Use this pronunciation if it's past |
|
||||
| | tense. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$verbf | The following word is probably is a |
|
||||
| | verb. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$verbsf | The following word is probably is a |
|
||||
| | if it has an "s" suffix. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$nounf | The following word is probably not a |
|
||||
| | verb. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$pastf | The following word is probably past |
|
||||
| | tense. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \$verbextend | Extend the influence of \$verbf and |
|
||||
| | \$verbsf. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
The last group are probably English specific, but something similar may
|
||||
be useful in other languages. They are a crude attempt to improve the
|
||||
accuracy of pairs like ob'ject (verb) v 'object (noun) and read
|
||||
(present) v read (past).
|
||||
|
||||
The dictionary list is searched from bottom to top. The first match that
|
||||
satisfies any conditions is used (i.e. the one lowest down the list). So
|
||||
if we have:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
to t@ // unstressed version
|
||||
to tu: $atend // stressed version
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
then if "to" is at the end of the clause, we get [tu:], if not then we
|
||||
get [t@].
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.4.4 Translating a Word to another Word {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Rather than specifying the pronunciation of a word by a phoneme string,
|
||||
you can specify another "sounds like" word.
|
||||
|
||||
Use the attribute **\$text** eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
cough coff $text
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
Alternatively, use the command **\$textmode** on a line by itself to
|
||||
turn this on for all subsequent entries in the file, until it's turned
|
||||
off by **\$phonememode**. eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
$textmode
|
||||
cough coff
|
||||
through threw
|
||||
$phonememode
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
This feature cannot be used for the special entries in the **\_list**
|
||||
files which start with an underscore, such as numbers.
|
||||
|
||||
Currently "textmode" entries are only recognized for complete words, and
|
||||
not for for stems from which a prefix or suffix has been removed (eg.
|
||||
the word "coughs" would not match the example above).
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.5 Conditional Rules {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Rules in a **\_rules** file and entries in a **\_list** file can be made
|
||||
conditional. They apply only to some voices. This can be useful to
|
||||
specify different pronunciations for different variants of a language
|
||||
(dialects or accents).
|
||||
|
||||
Conditional rules have **?** and a condition number at the start if
|
||||
the line in the **\_rules** or **\_list** file. This means that the rule
|
||||
only applies of that condition number is specified in a **dictrules**
|
||||
line in the [voice file](voices.html).
|
||||
|
||||
If the rule starts with **?!** then the rule only applies if the
|
||||
condition number is **not** specified in the voice file. eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
?3 can't kant // only use this if the voice has: dictrules 3
|
||||
?!3 rather rA:D3 // only use if the voice doesn't have: dictrules 3
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.6 Numbers and Character Names {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.6.1 Letter names {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The names of individual letters can be given either in the **\_rules**
|
||||
or **\_list** file. Sometimes an individual letter is also used as a
|
||||
word in the language and its pronunciation as a word differs from its
|
||||
letter name. If so, it should be listed in the **\_list** file, preceded
|
||||
by an underscore, to give the letter name (as distinct from its
|
||||
pronunciation as a word). eg. in English:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
_a eI
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4.6.2 Numbers {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The operation the TranslateNumber() function is controlled by the
|
||||
language's `langopts.numbers`{.western} option. This constructs spoken
|
||||
numbers from fragments according to various options which can be set for
|
||||
each language. The number fragments are given in the **\_list** file.
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_0 to \_9 | The numbers 0 to 9 |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_13 | etc. Any pronunciations which are |
|
||||
| | needed for specific numbers in the |
|
||||
| | range \_10 to \_99 |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_2X \_3X | Twenty, thirty, etc., used to make |
|
||||
| | numbers 10 to 99 |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_0C | The word for "hundred" |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_1C \_2C | Special pronunciation for one |
|
||||
| | hundred, two hundred, etc., if |
|
||||
| | needed. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_1C0 | Special pronunciation (if needed) |
|
||||
| | for 100 exactly |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_0M1 | The word for "thousand" |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_0M2 | The word for "million" |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_0M3 | The word for 1000000000 |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_1M1 \_2M1 | Special pronunciation for one |
|
||||
| | thousand, two thousand, etc, if |
|
||||
| | needed |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_0and | Word for "and" when speaking numbers |
|
||||
| | (eg. "two hundred and twenty"). |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_dpt | Word spoken for the decimnal |
|
||||
| | point/comma |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| \_dpt2 | Word spoken (if any) at the end of |
|
||||
| | all the digits after a decimal |
|
||||
| | point. |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
### 4.7 Character Substitution {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Character substitutions can be specified by using a **.replace**section
|
||||
at the start of the **\_rules**file. Each line specified either one or
|
||||
two alphabetic characters to be replaced by another one or two
|
||||
alphabetic characters. This substitution is done to a word before it is
|
||||
translated using the spelling-to-phoneme rules. Only the lower-case
|
||||
version of the characters needs to be specified. eg.
|
||||
|
||||
.replace\
|
||||
ô ő // (Hungarian) allow the use of o-circumflex instead of
|
||||
o-double-accute\
|
||||
û ű
|
||||
|
||||
cx ĉ // (Esperanto) allow "cx" as an alternative to c-circumflex
|
||||
|
||||
fi fi // replace a single character ligature by two characters
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
|
||||
ESPEAKEDIT PROGRAM {.western}
|
||||
------------------
|
||||
|
||||
The **espeakedit** program is used to prepare phoneme data for the
|
||||
eSpeak speech synthesizer.
|
||||
|
||||
It has two main functions:
|
||||
|
||||
- -
|
||||
|
||||
### Installation {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**espeakedit** needs the following packages:\
|
||||
(The package names mentioned here are those from the Ubuntu "Dapper"
|
||||
Linux distribution).
|
||||
|
||||
- - -
|
||||
|
||||
In addition, a modified version of **praat**
|
||||
([www.praat.org](www.praat.org)) is used to view and analyse WAV sound
|
||||
files. This needs the package **libmotif3** to run and **libmotif-dev**
|
||||
to compile.
|
||||
|
||||
### Quick Guide {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
This will quickly illustrate the main features. Details of the interface
|
||||
and key commands are given in [editor\_if.html](editor_if.html)
|
||||
|
||||
For more detailed information on analysing sound recordings and
|
||||
preparing phoneme definitions and keyframe data see
|
||||
[analyse.html](analyse.html) (to be written).
|
||||
|
||||
#### Compiling Phoneme Data {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
1. 2. 3. 4.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Keyframe Sequences {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Text and Prosody Windows {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
|
||||
|
||||
The Prosody window can be used to experiment with different phoneme
|
||||
lengths and different intonation.
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
|
||||
USER INTERFACE - FORMANT EDITOR {.western}
|
||||
-------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
### Frame Sequence Display {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The eSpeak editor can display a number of frame-sequencies in tabbed
|
||||
windows. Each frame can contain a short-time frequency spectrum,
|
||||
covering the period of one cycle at the sound's pitch. Frames can also
|
||||
show:
|
||||
|
||||
- - - - -
|
||||
|
||||
### Text Tab {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Enter text in the top left text window. Click the **Translate** button
|
||||
to see the phonetic transcription in the text window below. Then click
|
||||
the **Speak** button to speak the text and show the results in the
|
||||
**Prosody** tab, if that is open.
|
||||
|
||||
If changes are made in the **Prosody** tab, then clicking **Speak** will
|
||||
speak the modified prosody while **Translate** will revert to the
|
||||
default prosody settings for the text.
|
||||
|
||||
To enter phonetic symbols (Kirschenbaum encoding) in the top left text
|
||||
window, enclose them within [[ ]].
|
||||
|
||||
### Spect Tab {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The "Spect" tab in the left panel of the eSpeak editor shows information
|
||||
about the currently selected frame and sequence.
|
||||
|
||||
- - - - - -
|
||||
|
||||
### Key Commands {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
- - - - -
|
||||
|
||||
USER INTERFACE - PROSODY EDITOR {.western style="margin-left: 1cm"}
|
||||
-------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
-
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
|
||||
# eSpeak NG - Documentation
|
||||
======================
|
||||
|
||||
### [Usage](commands.md)
|
||||
|
||||
### [Languages](languages.md)
|
||||
|
||||
### [Voice Files](voices.md)
|
||||
|
||||
Voice files specify a language and other characteristics of a voice.
|
||||
|
||||
### [Mbrola Voices](mbrola.md)
|
||||
|
||||
eSpeak NG can be used as a front-end for Mbrola diphone voices.
|
||||
|
||||
### [Pronunciation Dictionary](dictionary.md)
|
||||
|
||||
### [Adding a Language](add_language.md)
|
||||
|
||||
How to add or improve a language.
|
||||
|
||||
### [Phonemes](phonemes.md)
|
||||
|
||||
The list of phoneme mnemonics for English, for use in the Pronunciation
|
||||
Dictionary.
|
||||
|
||||
### [Phoneme Tables](phontab.md)
|
||||
|
||||
The tables of the phonemes used by each language, with their properties
|
||||
and sound production.
|
||||
|
||||
### [Intonation](intonation.md)
|
||||
|
||||
Different intonation "tunes" may be defined for different languages for
|
||||
clauses which end in full-stop, comma, question-mark, and
|
||||
exclamation-mark.
|
||||
|
||||
### [eSpeak NG Library API](speak_lib.h)
|
||||
|
||||
API definition and header file for a shared library version of eSpeak NG.
|
||||
|
||||
### [Markup tags](ssml.md)
|
||||
|
||||
SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language) and HTML tags recognized by
|
||||
eSpeak NG.
|
||||
|
||||
### [The espeakedit program](editor.md)
|
||||
|
||||
GUI software to edit vowel files and to compile the phoneme data for use
|
||||
by eSpeak NG. See also [Espeakedit user interface](editor_if.md).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
|
||||
INTONATION {.western}
|
||||
----------
|
||||
|
||||
In eSpeak's standard intonation model, a "tune" is applied to each
|
||||
clause depending on its punctuation. Other intonation models may be used
|
||||
for some languages, such as tone languages.
|
||||
|
||||
Named tunes are defined in the text file:
|
||||
`phsource/intonation`{.western}. This file must be compiled for use by
|
||||
eSpeak by using the espeakedit program, using the menu option:
|
||||
`Compile -> Compile intonation data`{.western}.
|
||||
|
||||
### Clauses {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The tunes which are used for a language can be specified by using a
|
||||
`tunes`{.western} statement in a voice file in
|
||||
`espeak-data/voices`{.western}. eg:
|
||||
|
||||
`tunes s1 c1 q1 e1`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
It's parameters are four tune names which are used for clauses which end
|
||||
in:
|
||||
|
||||
1. 2. 3. 4.
|
||||
|
||||
A clause consists of the following parts:
|
||||
|
||||
- - - -
|
||||
|
||||
### Tune definitions {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Here is an example tune definition from the file
|
||||
`phsource/intonation`{.western}.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
tune s1
|
||||
prehead 46 57
|
||||
headenv fall 16
|
||||
head 4 80 55 -8 -5
|
||||
headextend 0 63 38 13 0
|
||||
nucleus fall 70 18 24 12
|
||||
nucleus0 fall 64 8
|
||||
endtune
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
It contains:
|
||||
|
||||
**tune** \<tune name\>
|
||||
: Starts the definition of a tune. The `tune name`{.western} can
|
||||
be used in a `tunes`{.western} statements in voice files.
|
||||
**endtune** \<tune name\>
|
||||
: Ends the definition of a tune.
|
||||
**prehead** \<start pitch\> \<end pitch\>
|
||||
: Gives the pitch path for any series of unstressed syllables before
|
||||
the first stressed syllable.
|
||||
**headenv** \<envelope\> \<height\>
|
||||
: Gives the pitch envelope which is used for stressed syllables in the
|
||||
head (before the nucleus), including `onset`{.western} and
|
||||
`headlast`{.western} syllables if these are specified.
|
||||
`height`{.western} gives a pitch range for the envelope.
|
||||
**head** \<steps\> \<start pitch\> \<end pitch\> \<unstressed start\> \<unstressed end\>
|
||||
: `start pitch`{.western} and `end pitch`{.western} give a pitch
|
||||
path for the stressed syllables of the head. `steps`{.western} is
|
||||
the maximum number of stressed syllables for which this applies. If
|
||||
there are additional stressed syllables, then the
|
||||
`headextend`{.western} statement is used for them.
|
||||
: `unstressed start`{.western} and `unstressed end`{.western} give
|
||||
a pitch path for unstressed syllables between two stressed
|
||||
syllables. Their values are relative to the pitch of the previous
|
||||
stressed syllable. Values are usually negative, meaning that the
|
||||
unstressed syllables have lower pitch than the previous stressed
|
||||
syllable.
|
||||
**headextend** \<percentage list\>
|
||||
: If the head contains more stressed syllables than is specified by
|
||||
`steps`{.western}, then `percentage list`{.western} is used. It
|
||||
contains up to 8 numbers which are used repeatedly for the
|
||||
additional stressed syllables. A value of 0 corresponds to the lower
|
||||
the `start pitch`{.western} and `end pitch`{.western} values of the
|
||||
`head`{.western} statement. 100 corresponds to the higher value.
|
||||
Negative values and values greater than 100 are allowed.
|
||||
**nucleus** \<envelope\> \<top pitch\> \<bottom pitch\> \<tail start\> \<tail end\>
|
||||
: This gives the pitch envelope and pitch range of the last stressed
|
||||
syllable of the clause. `tail start`{.western} and
|
||||
`tail end`{.western} give a pitch path for the unstressed syllables
|
||||
which are after the last stressed syllable.
|
||||
**nucleus0** \<envelope\> \<top pitch\> \<bottom pitch\>
|
||||
: This is used instead of `nucleus`{.western} if there are no
|
||||
unstressed syllables after the last stressed syllable. In this case,
|
||||
the pitch changes of the nucleus and the tail and both included in
|
||||
the nucleus.
|
||||
|
||||
The following attributes may also be included:
|
||||
|
||||
**onset** \<pitch\> \<unstressed start\> \<unstressed end\>
|
||||
: This specifies the pitch for the first stressed syllable of the
|
||||
head. If the `onset`{.western} statement is present, then the
|
||||
`head`{.western} statement used for the stressed syllables after the
|
||||
first.
|
||||
**headlast** \<pitch\> \<unstressed start\> \<unstressed end\>
|
||||
: This specifies the pitch for the last stressed syllable of the head
|
||||
(i.e. the stressed syllable before the nucleus).
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
|
||||
3. LANGUAGES {.western}
|
||||
------------
|
||||
|
||||
**Languages**. The eSpeak speech synthesizer supports several languages,
|
||||
however in many cases these are initial drafts and need more work to
|
||||
improve them. Assistance from native speakers is welcome for these, or
|
||||
other new languages. Please contact me if you want to help.
|
||||
|
||||
eSpeak does text to speech synthesis for the following languages, some
|
||||
better than others. Afrikaans, Albanian, Armenian, Cantonese, Catalan,
|
||||
Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Finnish, French,
|
||||
German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian,
|
||||
Kurdish, Latvian, Lojban, Macedonian, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish,
|
||||
Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swahili,
|
||||
Swedish, Tamil, Turkish, Vietnamese, Welsh.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
#### Help Needed {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Many of these are just experimental attempts at these languages,
|
||||
produced after a quick reading of the corresponding article on
|
||||
wikipedia.org. They will need work or advice from native speakers to
|
||||
improve them. Please contact me if you want to advise or assist with
|
||||
these or other languages.
|
||||
|
||||
The sound of some phonemes may be poorly implemented, particularly [r]
|
||||
since I'm English and therefore unable to make a "proper" [r] sound.
|
||||
|
||||
A major factor is the rhythm or cadance. An Italian speaker told me the
|
||||
Italian voice improved from "difficult to understand" to "good" by
|
||||
changing the relative length of stressed syllables. Identifying
|
||||
unstressed function words in the xx\_list file is also important to make
|
||||
the speech flow well. See [Adding or Improving a
|
||||
Language](add_language.html)
|
||||
|
||||
#### Character sets {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Languages recognise text either as UTF8 or alternatively in an 8-bit
|
||||
character set which is appropriate for that language. For example, for
|
||||
Polish this is Latin2, for Russian it is KOI8-R. This choice can be
|
||||
overridden by a line in the voices file to specify an ISO 8859 character
|
||||
set, eg. for Russian the line:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
charset 5
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
will mean that ISO 8859-5 is used as the 8-bit character set rather than
|
||||
KOI8-R.
|
||||
|
||||
In the case of a language which uses a non-Latin character set (eg.
|
||||
Greek or Russian) if the text contains a word with Latin characters then
|
||||
that particular word will be pronounced using English pronunciation
|
||||
rules and English phonemes. Speaking entirely English text using a Greek
|
||||
or Russian voice will sound OK, but each word is spoken separately so it
|
||||
won't flow properly.
|
||||
|
||||
Sample texts in various languages can be found at
|
||||
[http://\<language\>.wikipedia.org](http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias)
|
||||
and [www.gutenberg.org](http://www.gutenberg.org/)
|
||||
|
||||
### 3.1 Voice Files {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
A number of Voice files are provided in the
|
||||
`espeak-data/voices`{.western} directory. You can select one of these
|
||||
with the **-v \<voice filename\>** parameter to the speak command, eg:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
espeak-ng -vaf
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
to speak using the Afrikaans voice.
|
||||
|
||||
Language voices generally start with the 2 letter [ISO 639-1
|
||||
code](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-1) for the language. If the
|
||||
language does not have an ISO 639-1 code, then the 3 letter [ISO 639-3
|
||||
code](http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp) can be used.
|
||||
|
||||
For details of the voice files see [Voices](voices.html).
|
||||
|
||||
#### Default Voice {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
### 3.2 English Voices {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
### 3.3 Voice Variants {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
To make alternative voices for a language, you can make additional voice
|
||||
files in espeak-data/voices which contains commands to change various
|
||||
voice and pronunciation attributes. See [voices.html](voices.html).
|
||||
|
||||
Alternatively there are some preset voice variants which can be applied
|
||||
to any of the language voices, by appending `+`{.western} and a variant
|
||||
name. Their effects are defined by files in
|
||||
`espeak-data/voices/!v`{.western}.
|
||||
|
||||
The variants are `+m1 +m2 +m3 +m4 +m5 +m6 +m7`{.western} for male
|
||||
voices, `+f1 +f2 +f3 +f4 +f5 `{.western}for female voices, and
|
||||
`+croak +whisper`{.western} for other effects. For example:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
espeak-ng -ven+m3
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
The available voice variants can be listed with:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
espeak-ng --voices=variant
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
### 3.4 Other Languages {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The eSpeak speech synthesizer does text to speech for the following
|
||||
additional langauges.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3.5 Provisional Languages {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
These languages are only initial naive implementations which have had
|
||||
little or no feedback and improvement from native speakers.
|
||||
|
||||
### 3.6 Mbrola Voices {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Some additional voices, whose name start with **mb-** (for example
|
||||
**mb-en1**) use eSpeak as a front-end to Mbrola diphone voices. eSpeak
|
||||
does the spelling-to-phoneme translation and intonation. See
|
||||
[mbrola.html](mbrola.html).
|
||||
+128
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
|
||||
MBROLA VOICES {.western}
|
||||
-------------
|
||||
|
||||
The Mbrola project is a collection of diphone voices for speech
|
||||
synthesis. They do not include any text-to-phoneme translation, so this
|
||||
must be done by another program. The Mbrola voices are cost-free but are
|
||||
not open source. They are available from the Mbrola website at:\
|
||||
|
||||
[http://www.tcts.fpms.ac.be/synthesis/mbrola/mbrcopybin.html](http://www.tcts.fpms.ac.be/synthesis/mbrola/mbrcopybin.html)
|
||||
|
||||
eSpeak can be used as a front-end to Mbrola. It provides the
|
||||
spelling-to-phoneme translation and intonation, which Mbrola then uses
|
||||
to generate speech sound.
|
||||
|
||||
### Voice Names {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
To use a Mbrola voice, eSpeak needs information to translate from its
|
||||
own phonemes to the equivalent Mbrola phonemes. This has been set up for
|
||||
only some voices so far.
|
||||
|
||||
The eSpeak voices which use Mbrola are named as:\
|
||||
**mb-**xxx
|
||||
|
||||
where xxx is the name of a Mbrola voice (eg. **mb-en1** for the Mbrola
|
||||
"**en1**" English voice). These voice files are in eSpeak's directory
|
||||
`espeak-data/voices/mbrola`{.western}.
|
||||
|
||||
The installation instructions below use the Mbrola voice "en1" as an
|
||||
example. You can use other mbrola voices for which there is an
|
||||
equivalent eSpeak voice in `espeak-data/voices/mbrola`{.western}.
|
||||
|
||||
There are some additional eSpeak Mbrola voices which speak English text
|
||||
using a Mbrola voice for a different language. These contain the name of
|
||||
the Mbrola voice with a suffix **-en**. For example, the voice
|
||||
**mb-de4-en** will speak English text with a German accent by using the
|
||||
Mbrola **de4** voice.
|
||||
|
||||
### Windows Installation {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The SAPI5 version of eSpeak uses the mbrola.dll.
|
||||
|
||||
1. 2. 3. 4.
|
||||
|
||||
### Linux Installation {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
From eSpeak version 1.44 onwards, eSpeak calls the mbrola program
|
||||
directly, rather than passing phoneme data to it using a pipe.
|
||||
|
||||
1. 2. 3.
|
||||
|
||||
### Mbrola Voice Files {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
eSpeak's voice files for Mbrola voices are in directory
|
||||
`espeak-data/voices/mbrola`{.western}. They contain a line:\
|
||||
`mbrola <voice> <translation>`{.western} \
|
||||
eg.\
|
||||
`mbrola en1 en1_phtrans`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
- -
|
||||
|
||||
They are binary files which are compiled, using espeakedit, from source
|
||||
files in `phsource/mbrola`{.western}, see below.
|
||||
|
||||
### Mbrola Phoneme Translation Data {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Mbrola phoneme translation files specify translations from eSpeak
|
||||
phoneme names to mbrola phoneme names. They are referenced from voice
|
||||
files.
|
||||
|
||||
The source files are in `phsource/mbrola`{.western}. These are compiled
|
||||
using the `espeakedit`{.western} program
|
||||
(`Compile->Compile mbrola phonemes list`{.western}) to produce data
|
||||
files in `espeak-data/mbrola_ph`{.western} which are used by eSpeak.
|
||||
|
||||
Each line in the mbrola phoneme translation file contains:
|
||||
|
||||
`<control> <espeak ph1> <espeak ph2> <percent> <mbrola ph1> [<mbrola ph2>] `{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**\<control\>**
|
||||
|
||||
- - - -
|
||||
|
||||
**\<espeak ph1\>**\
|
||||
The eSpeak phoneme which is to be translated to an mbrola phoneme.
|
||||
|
||||
**\<espeak ph2\>**\
|
||||
If this field is not `NULL`{.western}, then the match only occurs if
|
||||
this field matches the next phoneme. If control bit 1 is set, then the
|
||||
*previous* rather than the *next* phoneme is matched. This field may
|
||||
also have the following values:\
|
||||
`VWL`{.western} matches any Vowel phoneme.
|
||||
|
||||
**\<percent\>**\
|
||||
If this field is zero then only one mbrola phoneme is used. If this
|
||||
field is non-zero, then two mbrola phonemes are used, and this value
|
||||
gives the percentage length of the first mbrola phoneme.
|
||||
|
||||
**\<mbrola ph1\>**\
|
||||
The mbrola phoneme to which the eSpeak phoneme is translated. This
|
||||
field may be `NULL`{.western}.
|
||||
|
||||
**\<mbrola ph2\>**\
|
||||
The second mbrola phoneme. This field is only used if the \<percent\>
|
||||
field is not zero.
|
||||
|
||||
The list is searched from start to finish, until a match is found.
|
||||
Therefore, a line with more specific match condition should appear
|
||||
before a line which matches the same eSpeak phoneme but with a more
|
||||
general condition.
|
||||
|
||||
The file `dictsource/dict_phonemes`{.western} lists the eSpeak phonemes
|
||||
which are used for each language. Translations for all these should be
|
||||
given in the mbrola phoneme translation file. In addition, some phonemes
|
||||
which are referenced from phoneme files (eg.
|
||||
`phsource/ph_language, phsource/phonemes`{.western}) in lines such as:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
beforenotvowel l/
|
||||
reduceto a# 0
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
should also be included, even though they don't appear in
|
||||
`dictsource/dict_phonemes`{.western}.
|
||||
|
||||
If the language's \*\_list or \*\_rules files includes rules to speak
|
||||
words "as English" the mbrola phoneme translation file should include
|
||||
rules which translate English phonemes into near equivalents, so that
|
||||
they can spoken by the mbrola voice.
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,283 @@
|
||||
PHONEMES {.western}
|
||||
--------
|
||||
|
||||
In general a different set of phonemes can be defined for each language.
|
||||
|
||||
In most cases different languages inherit the same basic set of
|
||||
consonants. They can add to these or modify them as needed.
|
||||
|
||||
The phoneme mnemonics are based on the scheme by Kirshenbaum which
|
||||
represents International Phonetic Alphabet symbols using ascii
|
||||
characters. See:
|
||||
[www.kirshenbaum.net/IPA/ascii-ipa.pdf](http://www.kirshenbaum.net/IPA/ascii-ipa.pdf).
|
||||
|
||||
Phoneme mnemonics can be used directly in the text input to
|
||||
**espeak-ng**. They are enclosed within double square brackets. Spaces
|
||||
are used to separate words, and all stressed syllables must be marked
|
||||
explicitly. eg:\
|
||||
`[[D,Is Iz sVm f@n'EtIk t'Ekst 'InpUt]]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
### English Consonants {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[p]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[b]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[t]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[d]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[tS]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**ch**urch
|
||||
|
||||
`[dZ]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**j**udge
|
||||
|
||||
`[k]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[g]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[f]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[v]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[T]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**th**in
|
||||
|
||||
`[D]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**th**is
|
||||
|
||||
`[s]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[z]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[S]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**sh**op
|
||||
|
||||
`[Z]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
plea**s**ure
|
||||
|
||||
`[h]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[m]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[n]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[N]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
si**ng**
|
||||
|
||||
`[l]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
`[r]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**r**ed (Omitted if not immediately followed by a vowel).
|
||||
|
||||
`[j]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**y**es
|
||||
|
||||
`[w]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**Some Additional Consonants**
|
||||
|
||||
\
|
||||
|
||||
`[C]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
German i**ch**
|
||||
|
||||
`[x]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
German bu**ch**
|
||||
|
||||
`[l^]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Italian **gl**i
|
||||
|
||||
`[n^]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Spanish **ñ**
|
||||
|
||||
### English Vowels {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
These are the phonemes which are used by the English spelling-to-phoneme
|
||||
translations (en\_rules and en\_list). In some varieties of English
|
||||
different phonemes may have the same sound, but they are kept separate
|
||||
because they may differ in another variety.
|
||||
|
||||
In rhotic accents, such as General American, the phonemes
|
||||
`[3:], [A@], [e@], [i@], [O@], [U@] `{.western}include the "r" sound.
|
||||
|
||||
`[@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
alph**a**
|
||||
|
||||
schwa
|
||||
|
||||
`[3]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
bett**er**
|
||||
|
||||
rhotic schwa. In British English this is the same as `[@]`{.western},
|
||||
but it includes 'r' colouring in American and other rhotic accents. In
|
||||
these cases a separate `[r]`{.western} should not be included unless it
|
||||
is followed immediately by another vowel.
|
||||
|
||||
`[3:]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
n**ur**se
|
||||
|
||||
`[@L]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
simp**le**
|
||||
|
||||
`[@2]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
the
|
||||
|
||||
Used only for "the".
|
||||
|
||||
`[@5]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
to
|
||||
|
||||
Used only for "to".
|
||||
|
||||
`[a]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
tr**a**p
|
||||
|
||||
`[aa]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
b**a**th
|
||||
|
||||
This is `[a]`{.western} in some accents, `[A:]`{.western} in others.
|
||||
|
||||
`[a#]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**a**bout
|
||||
|
||||
This may be `[@]`{.western} or may be a more open schwa.
|
||||
|
||||
`[A:]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
p**al**m
|
||||
|
||||
`[A@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
st**ar**t
|
||||
|
||||
`[E]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
dr**e**ss
|
||||
|
||||
`[e@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
squ**are**
|
||||
|
||||
`[I]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
k**i**t
|
||||
|
||||
`[I2]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**i**ntend
|
||||
|
||||
As `[I]`{.western}, but also indicates an unstressed syllable.
|
||||
|
||||
`[i]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
happ**y**
|
||||
|
||||
An unstressed "i" sound at the end of a word.
|
||||
|
||||
`[i:]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
fl**ee**ce
|
||||
|
||||
`[i@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
n**ear**
|
||||
|
||||
`[0]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
l**o**t
|
||||
|
||||
`[V]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
str**u**t
|
||||
|
||||
`[u:]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
g**oo**se
|
||||
|
||||
`[U]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
f**oo**t
|
||||
|
||||
`[U@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
c**ure**
|
||||
|
||||
`[O:]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
th**ou**ght
|
||||
|
||||
`[O@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
n**or**th
|
||||
|
||||
`[o@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
f**or**ce
|
||||
|
||||
`[aI]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
pr**i**ce
|
||||
|
||||
`[eI]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
f**a**ce
|
||||
|
||||
`[OI]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
ch**oi**ce
|
||||
|
||||
`[aU]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
m**ou**th
|
||||
|
||||
`[oU]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
g**oa**t
|
||||
|
||||
`[aI@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
sc**ie**nce
|
||||
|
||||
`[aU@]`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
h**our**
|
||||
|
||||
### Some Additional Vowels {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Other languages will have their own vowel definitions, eg:
|
||||
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| `[e]`{.western} | German **eh**, French **é** |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| `[o]`{.western} | German **oo**, French **o** |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| `[y]`{.western} | German **ü**, French **u** |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
| `[Y]`{.western} | German **ö**, French **oe** |
|
||||
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|
||||
|
||||
`[:] `{.western}can be used to lengthen a vowel, eg `[e:]`{.western}
|
||||
+174
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
|
||||
PHONEME TABLES {.western}
|
||||
--------------
|
||||
|
||||
A phoneme table defines all the phonemes which are used by a language,
|
||||
together with their properties and the data for their production as
|
||||
sounds.
|
||||
|
||||
Generally each language has its own phoneme table, although additional
|
||||
phoneme tables can be used for different voices within the language.
|
||||
These alternatives are referenced from Voice files.
|
||||
|
||||
A phoneme table does not need to define all the phonemes used by a
|
||||
language. It can inherit the phonemes from a previously defined phoneme
|
||||
table. For example, a phoneme table may redefine (or add) some of the
|
||||
vowels that it uses, but inherit most of its consonants from a standard
|
||||
set.
|
||||
|
||||
The source files for the phoneme data are in the "phsource" directory in
|
||||
the espeakedit download package. "Vowel files", which are referenced in
|
||||
FMT(), VowelStart(), and VowelEnding() instructions are made using the
|
||||
espeakedit program.
|
||||
|
||||
### Phoneme files {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The phoneme tables are defined in a master phoneme file, named
|
||||
**phonemes**. This starts with the **base** phoneme table followed by
|
||||
phoneme tables for other languages and voices. These inherit phonemes
|
||||
from the **base** table or previously defined tables.
|
||||
|
||||
In addition to phoneme definitions, the phoneme file can contain the
|
||||
following:
|
||||
|
||||
**include** \<filename\>
|
||||
: Includes the text of the specified file at this point. This allows
|
||||
different phoneme tables to be kept in different text files, for
|
||||
convenience. \<filename\> is a relative path. The included file can
|
||||
itself contain **include** statements.
|
||||
**phonemetable** \<name\> \<parent\>
|
||||
: Starts a new phoneme table, and ends the previous table.\
|
||||
\<name\> Is the name of this phoneme table. This name is used in
|
||||
Voice files.\
|
||||
\<parent\> Is the name of a previously defined phoneme table whose
|
||||
phoneme definitions are inherited by this one. The name **base**
|
||||
indicates the first (base) phoneme table.
|
||||
|
||||
### Phoneme definitions {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Note: These new Phoneme definitions apply to eSpeak version 1.42.20 and
|
||||
later.
|
||||
|
||||
A phoneme table contains a list of phoneme definitions. Each starts with
|
||||
the keyword **phoneme** and the phoneme name (this is the name used in
|
||||
the pronunciation rules in a language's \*\_rules and \*\_list files),
|
||||
and ends with the keyword **endphoneme**. For example:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
phoneme aI
|
||||
vowel
|
||||
starttype #a endtype #i
|
||||
length 230
|
||||
FMT(vowels/ai)
|
||||
endphoneme
|
||||
|
||||
phoneme s
|
||||
vls alv frc sibilant
|
||||
voicingswitch z
|
||||
lengthmod 3
|
||||
Vowelin f1=0 f2=1700 -300 300 f3=-100 80
|
||||
Vowelout f1=0 f2=1700 -300 250 f3=-100 80 rms=20
|
||||
|
||||
IF nextPh(isPause) THEN
|
||||
WAV(ufric/s_)
|
||||
ELIF nextPh(p) OR nextPh(t) OR nextPh(k) THEN
|
||||
WAV(ufric/s!)
|
||||
ENDIF
|
||||
WAV(ufric/s)
|
||||
endphoneme
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
A phoneme definition contains both static properties and executed
|
||||
instructions. The instructions may contain conditional statements, so
|
||||
that the effect of the phoneme may be different depending on adjacent
|
||||
phonemes, whether the syllable is stressed, etc.
|
||||
|
||||
The instructions of a phoneme are interpreted in two different phases.
|
||||
In the first phase, the instructions may change the phoneme and replace
|
||||
it by a different phoneme. In the second phase, instructions are used to
|
||||
produce the sound for the phoneme.
|
||||
|
||||
The **import\_phoneme** statement can be used to copy a previously
|
||||
defined phoneme from a specified phoneme table. For example:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
phoneme t
|
||||
import_phoneme base/t[
|
||||
endphoneme
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
means: `phoneme t`{.western} in this phoneme table is a copy of
|
||||
`phoneme t[`{.western} from phoneme table "base". A **length**
|
||||
instruction can be used after **import\_phoneme** to vary the length
|
||||
from the original.
|
||||
|
||||
### Phoneme Properties {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Within the phoneme definition the following lines may occur: ( (V)
|
||||
indicates only for vowels, (C) only for consonants)
|
||||
|
||||
### Phoneme Instructions {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Phoneme Instructions may be included within conditional statements.
|
||||
|
||||
During the first phase of phoneme interpretation, an instruction which
|
||||
causes a change to a different phoneme will terminate the instructions.
|
||||
During the second phase, FMT() and WAV() instructions will terminate the
|
||||
instructions.
|
||||
|
||||
### Conditional Statements {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
Phoneme definitions can contain conditional statements such as:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
IF <condition> THEN
|
||||
<statements>
|
||||
ENDIF
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
or more generally:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
IF <condition> THEN
|
||||
<statements>
|
||||
ELIF <condition> THEN
|
||||
<statements>
|
||||
...
|
||||
ELSE
|
||||
<statements>
|
||||
ENDIF
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
where the `ELSE`{.western} and multiple `ELSE`{.western} parts are
|
||||
optional.
|
||||
|
||||
Multiple conditions may be joined with `AND`{.western} or
|
||||
`OR`{.western}, but not a mixture of `AND`{.western}s and
|
||||
`OR`{.western}s.
|
||||
|
||||
A condition may be preceded by `NOT`{.western}. For example:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
IF <condition> AND NOT <condition> THEN
|
||||
<statements>
|
||||
ENDIF
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
**Condition** Can be:
|
||||
|
||||
**Attributes**
|
||||
|
||||
### Sound Specifications {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
There are three ways to produce sounds:
|
||||
|
||||
- - -
|
||||
|
||||
### Vowel Transitions {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
These specify how a consonant affects an adjacent vowel. A consonant may
|
||||
cause a transition in the vowel's formants as the mouth changes shape
|
||||
between the consonant and the vowel. The following attributes may be
|
||||
specified. Note that the maximum rate of change of formant frequencies
|
||||
is limited by the speak program.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
|
||||
TEXT MARKUP {.western}
|
||||
-----------
|
||||
|
||||
### SSML: Speech Synthesis Markup Language {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The following markup tags and attributes are recognised:
|
||||
|
||||
**\<speak\>**
|
||||
|
||||
- -
|
||||
|
||||
**\<voice\>**
|
||||
|
||||
- - - - -
|
||||
|
||||
**\<prosody\>**
|
||||
|
||||
- - - -
|
||||
|
||||
**\<say-as\>**
|
||||
|
||||
- - - - -
|
||||
|
||||
**\<mark\>** name
|
||||
|
||||
**\<s\>**
|
||||
|
||||
-
|
||||
|
||||
**\<p\>**
|
||||
|
||||
-
|
||||
|
||||
**\<sub\>** alias
|
||||
|
||||
**\<tts:style\>**
|
||||
|
||||
- -
|
||||
|
||||
**\<audio\>** src
|
||||
|
||||
**\<emphasis\>**
|
||||
|
||||
-
|
||||
|
||||
**\<break\>**
|
||||
|
||||
- -
|
||||
|
||||
### HTML {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
eSpeak can speak HTML text directly, or text containing both SSML and
|
||||
HTML markup.\
|
||||
Any unrecognised tags are ignored.
|
||||
|
||||
The following tags case a sentence break.\
|
||||
**\<br\> \<dd\> \<li\> \<img\> \<td\> **
|
||||
|
||||
The following tags case a paragraph break.\
|
||||
**\<h1\> \<h2\> \<h3\> \<h4\> \<hr\> **
|
||||
|
||||
Text between the following tags is ignored.\
|
||||
**\<script\> ... \</script\> \
|
||||
\<style\> ... \</style\> **
|
||||
+311
@@ -0,0 +1,311 @@
|
||||
5. VOICES {.western}
|
||||
---------
|
||||
|
||||
### 5.1 Voice Files {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
A Voice file specifies a language (and possibly a language variant or
|
||||
dialect) together with various attributes that affect the
|
||||
characteristics of the voice quality and how the language is spoken.
|
||||
|
||||
Voice files are placed in the `espeak-data/voices`{.western} directory,
|
||||
or within subdirectories in there.
|
||||
|
||||
The available voice files can be listed by:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
espeak-ng --voices
|
||||
or
|
||||
espeak-ng --voices=<language>
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
also
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
espeak-ng --voices=<variant>
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
Lists voice variants which can be applied to eSpeak voices.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
espeak-ng --voices=<mbrola>
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
Lists the Mbrola voices.
|
||||
|
||||
### 5.2 Contents of Voice Files {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
The **language** attribute is mandatory. All the other attributes are
|
||||
optional.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Identification Attributes {.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**name \<name\>**
|
||||
|
||||
A name given to this voice.
|
||||
|
||||
**language \<language code\> [\<priority\>]**
|
||||
|
||||
This attribute should appear before the other attributes which are
|
||||
listed below.
|
||||
|
||||
It selects the default behaviour and characteristics for the language,
|
||||
and sets default values for "phonemes", "dictionary" and other
|
||||
attributes. The \<language code\> should be a two-letter ISO 639-1
|
||||
language code. One or more language variant codes may be appended,
|
||||
separated by hyphens. (eg. en-uk-north).
|
||||
|
||||
The optional \<priority\> value gives the preference of this voice
|
||||
compared with others for the specified language. A low value indicates a
|
||||
more preferred voice. The default value is 5.
|
||||
|
||||
More than one **language** line may be present. A voice may be selected
|
||||
for other related languages (variants which have the same initial 2
|
||||
letter language code as the specified language), but it will be less
|
||||
preferred for these. Different language variants may be specified by
|
||||
additional **language** lines in order to indicate that this is a
|
||||
preferred voice for them also. Eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
language en-uk-north
|
||||
language en
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
indicates that this is voice is for the "en-uk-north" dialect, but it is
|
||||
also a main choice when a general "en" language is specified. Without
|
||||
the second **language** line, it would be disfavoured for "en" for being
|
||||
a more specialised voice.
|
||||
|
||||
**gender \<gender\> [\<age\>]**
|
||||
|
||||
This attribute is only a label for use in voice selection. It doesn't
|
||||
change the sound of the voice.
|
||||
|
||||
\<gender\> may be male, female, or unknown.\
|
||||
\<age\> is optional and gives an age in years.
|
||||
|
||||
**pitch \<base\> \<range\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Two integer values. The first gives a base pitch to the voice (value in
|
||||
Hz) The second controls the range of pitches used by the voice. Setting
|
||||
it equal to the base pitch will give a monotone. The default values are
|
||||
82 118.
|
||||
|
||||
**formant \<number\> \<frequency\> \<strength\> \<width\>
|
||||
\<freq\_add\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Systematically adjusts the frequency, strength, and width of the
|
||||
resonance peaks of the voice. Values are percentages of the default
|
||||
values. Changing these affects the tone/quality of the voice.
|
||||
|
||||
**freq\_add**Adds a constant value (in Hz) to the frequency of the
|
||||
formant peak. The value may be negative.
|
||||
|
||||
- - - -
|
||||
|
||||
**echo \<delay\> \<amplitude\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Parameter 1 gives the delay in mS (0 to 250mS).\
|
||||
Parameter 2 gives the echo amplitude (0 to 100).\
|
||||
Adding some echo can give a clearer or more interesting sound,
|
||||
especially when listening through a domestic stereo sound system, rather
|
||||
than small computer speakers.
|
||||
|
||||
**tone**
|
||||
|
||||
Controls the tone of the sound.\
|
||||
**tone** is followed by up to 4 pairs of \<frequency\> \<amplitude\>
|
||||
which define a frequency response graph. Frequency is in Hz and
|
||||
amplitude is in the range 0 to 255. The default is:
|
||||
|
||||
` `{.western}`tone 600 170 1200 135 2000 110`{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
This means that from frequency 0Hz to 600Hz the amplitude is 170. From
|
||||
600Hz to 1200Hz the amplitude decreases from 170 to 135, then decreases
|
||||
to 110 at 2000Hz and remains at 110 at higher frequencies. This
|
||||
adjustment applies only to voiced sounds such as vowels and sonorant
|
||||
consonants (such as [n] and [l]). Unvoiced sounds such as [s] are
|
||||
unaffected.
|
||||
|
||||
This **tone** statement can also appear in
|
||||
`espeak-data/config`{.western}, in which case it applies to all voices
|
||||
which don't have their own **tone** statement.
|
||||
|
||||
**flutter \<value\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Default value: 2.\
|
||||
Adds pitch fluctuations to give a wavering or older-sounding voice. A
|
||||
large value (eg. 20) makes the voice sound "croaky".
|
||||
|
||||
**roughness \<value\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Default value: 2. Range 0 - 7\
|
||||
Reduces the amplitude of alternate waveform cycles in order to make the
|
||||
voice sound creaky.
|
||||
|
||||
**voicing \<value\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Default value: 100.\
|
||||
Adjusts the strength of formant-synthesized sounds (vowels and sonorant
|
||||
consonants).
|
||||
|
||||
**consonants \<value\> \<value\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Default values: 100, 100.\
|
||||
Adjusts the strength of noise sounds which are used in consonants. The
|
||||
first value is the strength of unvoiced consonants such as "s" and "t".
|
||||
The second value is the strength of the noise component of voiced
|
||||
consonants such as "z" and "d".
|
||||
|
||||
**breath \<up to 8 integer values\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Default values: 0.\
|
||||
Adds noise which corresponds to the formant frequency peaks. The values
|
||||
give the strength of noise for each formant peak (formants 1 to 8).
|
||||
|
||||
Use together with a low or zero value of the **voicing** attribute to
|
||||
make a "wisper". For example:\
|
||||
|
||||
`breath 75 75 60 40 15 10 breathw 150 150 200 200 400 400 voicing 18 flutter 20 formant 0 100 0 100 // remove formant 0 `{.western}
|
||||
|
||||
**breathw \<up to 8 integer values\>**
|
||||
|
||||
These values give bandwidths of the noise peaks of the **breath**
|
||||
attribute. If **breathw** values are not given, then suitable default
|
||||
values will be used.
|
||||
|
||||
**speed \<value\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Default value 100.\
|
||||
Adjusts the speaking speed by a percentage of the default rate. This
|
||||
can be used if a language voice seems faster or slower compared to other
|
||||
voices.
|
||||
|
||||
**phonemes \<name\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Specifies which set of phonemes to use from those contained in the
|
||||
phontab, phonindex, and phondata data files. This is a **phonemetable**
|
||||
name as given in the "phoneme" source file.
|
||||
|
||||
This parameter is usually not needed as it is set by default to the
|
||||
first two letters of the "language" parameter. However, different voices
|
||||
of the same language can use different phoneme sets, to give different
|
||||
accents.
|
||||
|
||||
**dictionary \<name\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Specifies which pair of dictionary files to use. eg. "english" indicates
|
||||
that *speak-data/en\_dict* should be used to translate from words to
|
||||
phonemes. This parameter is usually not needed as it is set by default
|
||||
to the first two letters of "language" parameter.
|
||||
|
||||
**dictrules \<list of rule numbers\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Gives a list of conditional dictionary rules which are applied for this
|
||||
voice. Rule numbers are in the range 0 to 31 and are specific to a
|
||||
language dictionary. They apply to rules in the language's **\_rules**
|
||||
dictionary file and also its **\_list** exceptions list. See
|
||||
[dictionary.html](dictionary.html).
|
||||
|
||||
**replace \<flags\> \<phoneme\> \<replacement phoneme\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Replace a phoneme by another whenever it occurs.
|
||||
|
||||
\<replacement phoneme\> may be NULL.
|
||||
|
||||
Flags: bit 0: replacement only occurs on the final phoneme of a word.\
|
||||
Flags: bit 1: replacement doesn't occur in stressed syllables.\
|
||||
eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western}
|
||||
replace 0 h NULL // drops h's
|
||||
replace 0 V U // replaces vowel in 'strut' by that in 'foot'
|
||||
// as occurs in northern British English
|
||||
replace 3 N n // change 'fishing' to 'fishin' etc.
|
||||
// (only the last phoneme of a word, only in unstressed syllables)
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
The phoneme mnemonics can be defined for each language, but some are
|
||||
listed in [phonemes.html](phonemes.html)
|
||||
|
||||
**stressLength \<8 integer values\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Eight integer parameters. These control the relative lengths of the
|
||||
vowels in stressed and unstressed syllables.
|
||||
|
||||
- - - - - - - -
|
||||
|
||||
**stressAdd \<8 integer values\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Eight integer parameters. These are added to the voice's corresponding
|
||||
stressLength values. They are used in the voice variant files in
|
||||
`espeak-data/voices/!v`{.western} to give some variety. Negative values
|
||||
may be used.
|
||||
|
||||
**stressAmp \<8 integer values\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Eight integer parameters. These control the relative amplitudes of the
|
||||
vowels in stressed and unstressed syllables (see stressLength above).
|
||||
The general default values are: 16, 16, 20, 20, 20, 24, 24, 22, although
|
||||
these defaults may be different for particular languages.
|
||||
|
||||
**intonation \<param1\>**
|
||||
|
||||
- - - -
|
||||
|
||||
**charset \<param1\>**
|
||||
|
||||
The ISO 8859 character set number. (not all are implemented).
|
||||
|
||||
**dictmin \<value\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Used for some languages to detect if additional language data is
|
||||
installed. If the size of the compiled dictionary data for the language
|
||||
(the file `espeak-data/*_dict`{.western}) is less than this size then a
|
||||
warning is given.
|
||||
|
||||
**alphabet2 \<alphabet\> \<language\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Used to specify a language to be used to speak words which are written
|
||||
in a non-native alphabet. eg:
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
alphabet2 cyr ru
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
Alphabets names include: latin, cyr (cyrillic), ar (arabic). The default
|
||||
language for latin alphabet is English.
|
||||
|
||||
**dictdialect \<dialect\>**
|
||||
|
||||
Words can be marked in the \*\_list or \*\_rules file to be spoken using
|
||||
a foreign voice. This **dictdialect** attribute can be used to specify
|
||||
which dialect of the foreign language should be used, instead of the
|
||||
default dialect. The currently available dialects are:\
|
||||
**en-us** (US English)\
|
||||
**es-la** (Latin American Spanish).\
|
||||
eg.
|
||||
|
||||
~~~~ {.western style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"}
|
||||
dictdialect en-us
|
||||
~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
This means that any words or rules which are maked with \_\^\_EN will be
|
||||
spoken with the US English voice instead of the default UK English
|
||||
voice.
|
||||
|
||||
Additional attributes are available to set various internal options
|
||||
which control how language is processed. These would normally be set in
|
||||
the program code rather than in a voice file.
|
||||
|
||||
A number of Voice files are provided in the
|
||||
`espeak-data/voices`{.western} directory. You can select one of these
|
||||
with the **-v \<voice filename\>** parameter to the speak command.
|
||||
|
||||
**default**
|
||||
|
||||
This voice is used if none is specified in the speak command. You can
|
||||
copy your preferred voice to "default" so you can use the speak command
|
||||
without the need to specify a voice.
|
||||
|
||||
For a list of voices provided for English and other languages see
|
||||
[Languages](languages.html).
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user