phoneme
phoneme element
Specifies a phonetic pronunciation for the contained text.
Syntax
<phoneme
alphabet = "string"
ph = "string"
/>
Attributes
alphabet |
Specifies the phonetic alphabet to use.
darpaThe phonetic string is composed of symbols from the DARPA phonetic alphabet.
|
ph |
Required. Specifies the phonetic string using the selected phonetic alphabet. |
Parents
audio, emphasis, enumerate, foreach, p element, prompt, prosody, s element, voice
Children
None.
Remarks
The following table lists the DARPA phonetic alphabet. The example column provides a word that uses the symbol in the phoneme symbol column of the corresponding row. The transcription column provides a translation of the example using the DARPA phonetic alphabet. The character and the corresponding phonetic symbol are underlined in the respective example and transcription columns.
Phoneme Symbol |
Example |
Transcription |
|---|---|---|
aa |
Bob |
b aa b 1 |
ae |
bat |
b ae t 1 |
ah |
but |
b ah t 1 |
ao |
bought |
b ao t 1 |
aw |
down |
d aw n 1 |
ax |
about |
ax 0 b aw t 1 |
ay |
bite |
b ay t 1 |
b |
bet |
b eh t 1 |
ch |
church |
ch er ch 1 |
d |
dig |
d ih g 1 |
dh |
that |
dh ae t 1 |
dx |
butter |
b ah 1 dx er 0 |
eh |
bet |
b eh t 1 |
em |
Chatham |
ch ae 1 dx em 0 |
en |
satin |
s ae 1 q en 0 |
er |
bird |
b er d 1 |
ey |
bait |
b ey t 1 |
f |
fog |
f ao g 1 |
g |
got |
g aa t 1 |
hh |
hot |
hh aa t 1 |
ih |
bit |
b ih t 1 |
iy |
beat |
b iy t 1 |
jh |
jump |
jh ah m p 1 |
k |
cat |
k ae t 1 |
l |
lot |
l aa t 1 |
m |
mom |
m aa m 1 |
n |
nod |
n aa d 1 |
ng |
sing |
s ih ng 1 |
ow |
boat |
b ow t 1 |
oy |
boy |
b oy 1 |
p |
pot |
p aa t 1 |
q |
button |
b ah 1 q en 0 |
r |
rat |
r ae t 1 |
s |
sit |
s ih t 1 |
sh |
shut |
sh ah t 1 |
t |
top |
t aa p 1 |
th |
thick |
th ih k 1 |
uh |
book |
b uh k 1 |
uw |
boot |
b uw t 1 |
v |
vat |
v ae t 1 |
w |
won |
w ah n 1 |
y |
you |
y uw 1 |
z |
zoo |
z uw 1 |
zh |
measure |
m eh 1 zh er 0 |
0 |
Unstressed |
|
1 |
Primary stress |
|
2 |
Secondary stress |
|
& |
Word boundary |
|
pau |
Silence (AT&T extension) |
Known issues
The text to speech (TTS) engine incorrectly pronounces some phonemes when they are concatenated with other phonemes. For example, the phoneme "ae" is pronounced like "i" in "sit" in the phonetic transcription of "Chatham" provided above. Tellme Networks is investigating the issue and will update this document when more information is available.
Examples
When the following example is executed, the TTS engine uses the DARPA phonetic alphabet to read the examples provided in the table.
<vxml version="2.0"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/vxml"
>
<form>
<block>
<prompt>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b aa b 1">Bob</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ae t 1">bat</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ah t 1">but</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ao t 1">bought</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="d aw n 1">down</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="ax 0 b aw t 1">about</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ay t 1">bite</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b eh t 1">bet</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="ch er ch 1">church</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="d ih g 1">dig</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="dh ae t 1">that</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ah 1 dx er 0">butter</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b eh t 1">bet</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="ch ae 1 dx em 0">Chatham</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="s ae 1 q en 0">satin</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b er d 1">bird</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ey t 1">bait</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="f ao g 1">fog</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="g aa t 1">got</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="hh aa t 1">hot</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ih t 1">bit</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b iy t 1">beat</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="jh ah m p 1">jump</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="k ae t 1">cat</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="l aa t 1">lot</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="m aa m 1">mom</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="n aa d 1">nod</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="s ih ng 1">sing</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ow t 1">boat</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b oy 1">boy</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="p aa t 1">pot</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b ah 1 q en 0">button</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="r ae t 1">rat</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="s ih t 1">sit</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="sh ah t 1">shut</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="t aa p 1">top</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="th ih k 1">thick</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b uh k 1">book</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="b uw t 1">boot</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="v ae t 1">vat</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="w ah n 1">won</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="y uw 1">you</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="z uw 1">zoo</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
<phoneme alphabet="darpa" ph="m eh 1 zh er 0">measure</phoneme>
<break time="300ms"/>
</prompt>
</block>
</form>
</vxml>