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86 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
86 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
# eSpeak NG: Speech Synthesizer
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- [Features](#features)
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- [History](#history)
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- User Guide
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- [espeak-ng Command Line](../src/espeak-ng.1.ronn)
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- [speak-ng Command Line](../src/speak-ng.1.ronn)
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- [Supported Languages](languages.md)
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- [SSML and HTML Support](markup.md)
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- Creating and Editing Languages and Voices
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- [Adding or Improving a Language](add_language.md)
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- [Text to Phoneme Translation](dictionary.md)
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- [Numbers](numbers.md)
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- [Voice Files](voices.md)
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- [MBROLA Voices](mbrola.md)
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- [Phoneme Tables](phontab.md)
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- [Intonation](intonation.md)
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- Phonemes
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- [Phoneme Features and the International Phonetic Alphabet](phonemes.md)
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- [Kirshenbaum (ASCII-IPA) Transcription Scheme](phonemes/kirshenbaum.md)
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- [X-SAMPA Transcription Scheme](phonemes/xsampa.md)
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- [Conlang X-SAMPA Transcription Scheme](phonemes/cxs.md)
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- [Phoneme Model](phoneme_model.md)
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- Pronunciation Guides
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- [English](languages/gmw/en.md)
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- [License](../COPYING)
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----------
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eSpeak NG is a compact open source software speech synthesizer for English and
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other languages, for Linux and Windows.
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eSpeak NG uses a "formant synthesis" method. This allows many languages to be
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provided in a small size. The speech is clear, and can be used at high speeds,
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but is not as natural or smooth as larger synthesizers which are based on human
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speech recordings.
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eSpeak NG is available as:
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* A command line program (Linux and Windows) to speak text from a file or
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from stdin.
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* A shared library version for use by other programs. (On Windows this is
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a DLL).
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* A SAPI5 version for Windows, so it can be used with screen-readers and
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other programs that support the Windows SAPI5 interface.
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* eSpeak NG has been ported to other platforms, including Solaris and Mac
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OSX.
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## Features
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* Includes different Voices, whose characteristics can be altered.
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* Can produce speech output as a WAV file.
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* SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language) is supported (not complete),
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and also HTML.
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* Compact size. The program and its data, including many languages,
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totals about 1.4 Mbytes.
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* Can be used as a front-end to [MBROLA diphone voices](mbrola.md).
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eSpeak NG converts text to phonemes with pitch and length information.
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* Can translate text into phoneme codes, so it could be adapted as a
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front end for another speech synthesis engine.
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* Potential for other languages. Several are included in varying stages
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of progress. Help from native speakers for these or other languages is
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welcome.
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* Written in C.
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The eSpeak speech synthesizer supports over 70 languages, however in many cases
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these are initial drafts and need more work to improve them. Assistance from
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native speakers is welcome for these, or other new languages. Please contact me
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if you want to help.
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## History
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The program was originally known as __speak__ and originally written
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for Acorn/RISC\_OS computers starting in 1995 by Jonathan Duddington. This was
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enhanced and re-written in 2007 as __eSpeak__, including a relaxation of the
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original memory and processing power constraints, and with support for additional
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languages.
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In 2010, Reece H. Dunn started maintaining a version of eSpeak on GitHub that
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was designed to make it easier to build eSpeak on POSIX systems, porting the
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build system to autotools in 2012. In late 2015, this project was officially
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forked to a new __eSpeak NG__ project. The new eSpeak NG project is a significant
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departure from the eSpeak project, with the intention of cleaning up the
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existing codebase, adding new features, and adding to and improving the
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supported languages.
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