<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <title>sSpeak: Phonemes</title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Quanta Plus"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> </head> <body> <A href="docindex.html">Back</A> <hr> <h2>PHONEMES</h2> <hr> In general a different set of phonemes can be defined for each language. <p> In most cases different languages inherit the same basic set of consonants. They can add to these or modify them as needed. <p> The phoneme mnemonics are based on the scheme by Kirshenbaum which represents International Phonetic Alphabet symbols using ascii characters. See: <a href="http://www.kirshenbaum.net/IPA/ascii-ipa.pdf">www.kirshenbaum.net/IPA/ascii-ipa.pdf</a>. <p> Phoneme mnemonics can be used directly in the text input to <strong>espeak</strong>. They are enclosed within double square brackets. Spaces are used to separate words, and all stressed syllables must be marked explicitly. eg:<br> <code>[[D,Is Iz sVm f@n'EtIk t'Ekst 'InpUt]]</code> <h3>English Consonants</h3> <table> <tbody valign=top> <tr> <td width=25><code>[p]</code><td width=150> <td width=25><code>[b]</code><td width=150> <tr> <td><code>[t]</code><td> <td><code>[d]</code><td> <tr> <td><code>[tS]</code><td><b>ch</b>urch <td><code>[dZ]</code><td><b>j</b>udge <tr> <td><code>[k]</code><td> <td><code>[g]</code><td> <tr><td><p> <tr> <td><code>[f]</code><td> <td><code>[v]</code><td> <tr> <td><code>[T]</code><td><b>th</b>in <td><code>[D]</code><td><b>th</b>is <tr> <td><code>[s]</code><td> <td><code>[z]</code><td> <tr> <td><code>[S]</code><td><b>sh</b>op <td><code>[Z]</code><td>plea<b>s</b>ure <tr> <td><code>[h]</code><td> <tr><td><p> <tr> <td><code>[m]</code><td> <td><code>[n]</code><td> <tr> <td><code>[N]</code><td>si<b>ng</b> <tr> <td><code>[l]</code><td> <td><code>[r]</code><td><b>r</b>ed (Omitted if not immediately followed by a vowel). <tr> <td><code>[j]</code><td><b>y</b>es <td><code>[w]</code><td> <tr><td><p> <tr><td colspan=3><strong>Some Additional Consonants</strong></td> <p> <tr> <td><code>[C]</code><td>German i<b>ch</b> <td><code>[x]</code><td>German bu<b>ch</b> <tr> <td><code>[l^]</code><td>Italian <b>gl</b>i <td><code>[n^]</code><td>Spanish <b>ñ</b> </tbody> </table> </tbody> </table> <h3>English Vowels</h3> 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. <p> In rhotic accents, such as General American, the phonemes <code>[3:], [A@], [e@], [i@], [O@], [U@] </code> include the "r" sound. <p> <table> <tbody valign=top> <tr><td width=25><code>[@]</code> <td width=60>alph<b>a</b><td width=400>schwa <tr><td><code>[3]</code> <td>bett<b>er</b><td>rhotic schwa. In British English this is the same as <code>[@]</code>, but it includes 'r' colouring in American and other rhotic accents. In these cases a separate <code>[r]</code> should not be included unless it is followed immediately by another vowel. <tr><td><code>[3:]</code><td>n<b>ur</b>se <tr><td><code>[@L]</code><td>simp<b>le</b> <tr><td><code>[@2]</code><td>the<td>Used only for "the". <tr><td><code>[@5]</code><td>to<td>Used only for "to". <tr><td><p> <tr><td><code>[a]</code><td>tr<b>a</b>p <tr><td><code>[aa]</code><td>b<b>a</b>th<td>This is <code>[a]</code> in some accents, <code>[A:]</code> in others. <tr><td><code>[a#]</code><td><b>a</b>bout<td>This may be <code>[@]</code> or may be a more open schwa. <tr><td><code>[A:]</code><td>p<b>al</b>m <tr><td><code>[A@]</code><td>st<b>ar</b>t <tr><td><p> <tr><td><code>[E]</code><td>dr<b>e</b>ss <tr><td><code>[e@]</code><td>squ<b>are</b> <tr><td><p> <tr><td><code>[I]</code><td>k<b>i</b>t <tr><td><code>[I2]</code><td><b>i</b>ntend<td>As <code>[I]</code>, but also indicates an unstressed syllable. <tr><td><code>[i]</code><td>happ<b>y</b><td>An unstressed "i" sound at the end of a word. <tr><td><code>[i:]</code><td>fl<b>ee</b>ce <tr><td><code>[i@]</code><td>n<b>ear</b> <tr><td><p> <tr><td><code>[0]</code><td>l<b>o</b>t <tr><td><p> <tr><td><code>[V]</code><td>str<b>u</b>t <tr><td><p> <tr><td><code>[u:]</code><td>g<b>oo</b>se <tr><td><code>[U]</code><td>f<b>oo</b>t <tr><td><code>[U@]</code><td>c<b>ure</b> <tr><td><p> <tr><td><code>[O:]</code><td>th<b>ou</b>ght <tr><td><code>[O@]</code><td>n<b>or</b>th <tr><td><code>[o@]</code><td>f<b>or</b>ce <tr><td><p> <tr><td><code>[aI]</code><td>pr<b>i</b>ce <tr><td><code>[eI]</code><td>f<b>a</b>ce <tr><td><code>[OI]</code><td>ch<b>oi</b>ce <tr><td><code>[aU]</code><td>m<b>ou</b>th <tr><td><code>[oU]</code><td>g<b>oa</b>t <tr><td><code>[aI@]</code><td>sc<b>ie</b>nce <tr><td><code>[aU@]</code><td>h<b>our</b> </tbody> </table> <h3>Some Additional Vowels</h3> Other languages will have their own vowel definitions, eg: <table> <tbody valign=top> <tr><td width=30><code>[e]</code><td>German <b>eh</b>, French <b>é</b> <tr><td><code>[o]</code><td>German <b>oo</b>, French <b>o</b> <tr><td><code>[y]</code><td>German <b>ü</b>, French <b>u</b> <tr><td><code>[Y]</code><td>German <b>ö</b>, French <b>oe</b> </tbody> </table> <p> <code> [:] </code> can be used to lengthen a vowel, eg <code> [e:]</code> </body> </html>
