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Documentation: added info about Makefile.am and phonemes, restructured for other files.
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Valdis Vitolins
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-61
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# Adding or Improving a Language
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- [Language Code](#language-code)
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- [Language](#language)
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- [Accent](#accent)
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- [Considerations Before Preparation](#considerations-before-preparation)
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- [Language Tag](#language-tag)
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- [Language Family](#language-family)
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- [Language Files](#language-files)
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- [Voice File](#voice-file)
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- [Phoneme Definition File](#phoneme-definition-file)
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- [Dictionary Files](#dictionary-files)
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- [Accent (optional)](#accent-optional)
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- [Configuration Files](#configuration-files)
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- [Makefile.am file](#makefileam-file)
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- [Phonemes file](#phonemes-file)
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- [Voice File](#voice-file)
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- [Phoneme Definition File](#phoneme-definition-file)
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- [Dictionary Files](#dictionary-files)
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- [Program Code](#program-code)
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- [Compiling Rules File for Debugging](#compiling-rules-file-for-debugging)
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- [Improving a Language](#improving-a-language)
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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, e.g.
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## Considerations Before Preparation
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Most of the work doesn't need any programming knowledge, but, to get immediate
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feedback, by running and testing eSpeak,
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you should be able to [build](../README.md#building) it.
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You also have to understand the language main concepts, be aware of its features,
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and have to have patience and attention to detail.
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Wikipedia is a good source of basic phonetic information, e.g.
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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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## Language Code
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### Language Tag
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The language is identified using the
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[BCP 47](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IETF_language_tag) language tag. The
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list of valid tags originate from various standards and have been combined
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[BCP 47](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IETF_language_tag) language tag.
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The list of valid tags originate from various standards and have been combined
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into the
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[IANA Language Subtag Registry](http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry).
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### Language
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These language tags are used to specify the language, such as:
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* `de` (German) -- The [ISO 639-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-1)
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* `fr` (French) -- The [ISO 639-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-1)
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2-letter language code for the language.
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__NOTE:__ BCP 47 uses ISO 639-1 codes for languages that are allocated
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@@ -45,15 +51,26 @@ These language tags are used to specify the language, such as:
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* `yue` (Cantonese) -- The [ISO 639-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-3)
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3-letter language codes for the language.
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* `ta-Arab` (Tamil written in the Arabic alphabet) -- The
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* `ta-arab` (Tamil written in the Arabic alphabet) -- The
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[ISO 15924](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_15924) 4-letter script code.
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__NOTE:__ Where the script is the primary script for the language, the script
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tag should be omitted.
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### Accent
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### Language Family
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The language tags are also used to specify the accent or dialect of a language,
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The voices are grouped by the closest language family the language belongs.
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These language families are defined in
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[ISO 639-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-5). See also Wikipedia's
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[List of language families] (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:List_of_families)
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for more details.
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For example, the Celtic languages (Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, etc.)
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are listed under the `cel` language family code.
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### Accent (optional)
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If necessary, the language tags are also used to specify the accent or dialect of a language,
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such as:
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* `es-419` (Spanish (Latin America)) -- The
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@@ -75,44 +92,73 @@ such as:
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[bcp47-data](https://github.com/rhdunn/bcp47-data) project and a private use
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tag will be defined for that accent.
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### Language Family
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## Configuration Files
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The voices are grouped by the closest language family the language belongs.
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These language families are defined in
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[ISO 639-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-5). See also Wikipedia's
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[List of language families] (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:List_of_families)
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for more details.
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To add new language, you have to create or edit following files:
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For example, the Celtic languages (Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, etc.)
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are listed under the `cel` language family code.
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|path/file |action |
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|------------------------------|--------|
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| Makefile.am |edit |
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| phsource/phonemes |edit |
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| phsource/ph_french |create |
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| dictsource/fr_list |create |
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| dictsource/fr_rules |create |
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| dictsource/fr_extrc |create (optional) |
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| espeak-data/voices/roa/fr |create |
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## Language Files
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where:
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The following files are needed for your language.
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* __french__ is name of the newly created language
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* __fr__ is the code of this language
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* __roa__ is the family of this language
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* `espeak-data/voices/roa/fr`. The voice file. This gives the language name
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and may set some options.
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* `phsource/ph_french`. The phoneme definition file. This contains phoneme
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definitions for the vowels and consonants which the language uses. Usually
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it will contain mostly vowels. Most consonants will be inherited from the
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common phoneme definitions in the master phoneme file, `phsource/phonemes`.
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The master phoneme file needs to be edited to call your new `ph_french` file.
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* `dictsource/fr_rules`. This contains the spelling-to-phoneme translation
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rules.
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* `dictsource/fr_list`. This contains pronunciations for numbers, letter and
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symbol names, and words with exceptional pronunciations. It also gives
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attributes such as "unstressed" and "pause" to some common words.
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The `fr_rules` and `fr_list` files are compiled to produce the
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`espeak-data/fr_dict` file, which eSpeak uses when it is speaking.
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### Makefile.am File
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## Voice File
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`Makefile.am` is build configuration file.
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Search for configuration of existing languages (e.g. English)
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and add similar lines for your language in following sections.
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E.g. for French:
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phsource/phonemes.stamp: \
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...
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phsource/ph_french \
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...
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dictionaries: \
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...
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espeak-ng-data/fr_dict \
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...
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fr: espeak-ng-data/fr_dict
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dictsource/fr_extra:
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touch dictsource/fr_extra
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espeak-ng-data/fr_dict: src/espeak-ng phsource/phonemes.stamp dictsource/fr_list dictsource/fr_rules dictsource/fr_extra
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cd dictsource && ESPEAK_DATA_PATH=$(PWD) LD_LIBRARY_PATH=../src:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH} ../src/espeak-ng --compile=fr && cd ..
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...
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Note, that you don't need to add `fr_extra` reference in the last group, if your language doesn't have this file.
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### Phonemes File
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Open file `phsource/phonemes` and add following lines into it,
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to make it call your new, e.g. `ph_french` file:
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...
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phonemetable fr base
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include ph_french
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...
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### Voice File
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E.g. `espeak-data/voices/roa/fr` is the voice file for French.
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This gives the language name and may set some options.
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Each language needs a voice file in `espeak-data/voices` grouped by the
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[language family](#language-family). The filename of the default voice for a
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language should be the same as the language code (e.g. `fr` for French).
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Details of the contents of voice files are given in [Voices](voices.md).
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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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@@ -127,11 +173,18 @@ 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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## Phoneme Definition File
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Details of the contents of voice files are given in [Voices](voices.md).
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### Phoneme Definition File
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E.g. `phsource/ph_french` is the phoneme definition file for French.
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This contains phoneme definitions for the vowels and consonants which the language uses.
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Usually it will contain mostly vowels. Most consonants will be inherited from the
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common phoneme definitions in the _master phoneme file_: `phsource/phonemes`.
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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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definition file `ph_french`, where `ph_french` 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`, e.g.:
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@@ -169,7 +222,30 @@ 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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## Dictionary Files
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### Dictionary Files
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There are usually two dictionary files, e.g. for French:
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* `dictsource/fr_list`. This contains pronunciations for numbers, letter and
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symbol names, and words with exceptional pronunciations. It also gives
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attributes such as "unstressed" and "pause" to some common words.
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The `fr_list` file contains:
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* Pronunciations which exceptions to the rules in `fr_rules`, (e.g. foreign
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names).
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* Pronunciation of letter names, symbol names, and punctuation names.
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* Pronunciation of numbers.
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* Attributes for words. For example, common function words which should not
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be stressed, or conjunctions which should be preceded by a pause.
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* `dictsource/fr_rules`. This contains the spelling-to-phoneme translation
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rules.
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Details of the contents of the dictionary files are given in
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[Dictionary](dictionary.md).
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The `fr_rules` and `fr_list` files are compiled to produce the
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`espeak-data/fr_dict` file, which eSpeak uses when it is speaking.
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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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@@ -185,18 +261,6 @@ or by:
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make fr
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Details of the contents of the dictionary files are given in
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[Dictionary](dictionary.md).
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The `fr_list` file contains:
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* Pronunciations which exceptions to the rules in `fr_rules`, (e.g. foreign
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names).
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* Pronunciation of letter names, symbol names, and punctuation names.
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* Pronunciation of numbers.
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* Attributes for words. For example, common function words which should not
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be stressed, or conjunctions which should be preceded by a pause.
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## Program Code
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The behaviour of the eSpeak program is controlled by various options
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user