PHONEME GUIDE

Outline:

1. What is phoneme and how do I get the right pronunciation?

2. Phoneme with long / complex words. 

3. Phoneme with acronyms (ASAP, NHL, NASA, NAFTA, etc)

4. Phoneme with numbers.

What is phoneme and how do I get the right pronunciation?

Now you have full control over the avatar's pronunciation with Elai introducing the Phoneme feature. It allows you to improve the pronunciation of a specific word without changing the word in speech or subtitles.

Before we break down the pieces further let's give this sentence to an avatar: 

Do you know what deer does to does?

There might be a chance that AI reads the words DOES [duz] and DOES [doze] identically because these words have the same spelling, but different meanings and pronunciations (heteronyms). In order to correct the Avatars speech we encourage you to have a look at how Phoneme works.

To apply phoneme to the word follow this simple instruction:

1. Click on 'Phoneme' button below your text-to-speech box to open the Phoneme dictionary. 
2. Click on 'Add Phoneme'. Put the word from your script into the right column. Put the preferred pronounciation to the left column. 
3. Click on a play button to check on the pronouciation.
4. Save the phoneme.

Important: The phoneme once put in the dictionary will be applied to the specific word in all of your next videos. You can remove it whenever necessary.

Phoneme with long / complex words 

Try spelling the word the way it sounds, or break it up into syllables.

• Shorter Words

For a shorter word, try spelling the word the way it sounds. 

For example, edamame sounds best when you enter edamomay.

• Longer Words

For a longer word, try breaking it up by syllables, then change the syllable that isn’t sounding right.

 For example, acromioclavicular sounds best when you type a chromio clavickular.

Phoneme with acronyms (ASAP, NHL, NASA, NAFTA, etc)

Acronyms (or individual letters) may need to be spelled phonetically to get the right sound. Some acronyms are pronounced as a word (NASA), while others aren’t (WHO). Sometimes the AI gets this right, but when it doesn’t, use phonemes to correct the avatar’s speech:

• Acronym as a word

If you want an acronym pronounced like a word, but the AI is spelling it out, spell the acronym like a word.

For example:

For ASAP put eighsap in the phoneme.

• Acronyms as individual letters

If you want an acronym spelled out, but the AI is pronouncing it like a word, add spaces
between the letters.

For example:    

For NBA put en-be-ay in the phoneme.

For MOM put em-o-em in the phoneme.

Phoneme with numbers

Important: Phoneme does not read numbers and spaces. Please type words/letters in phonemes so it 

can work. Put hyphen instead of space so phoneme can read it.

Let’s take, for example, the number 1246. This can be a reference number, a page number, a dollar amount, or a year. 

• Reference numbers or pages:

You may need to spell out symbols and use spaces between numbers to help the AI make accurate predictions. If you want 1246 to read as “twelve-forty-six,” type twelve forty-six in the phoneme.

If the reference number 1246 should be read as “one-two-four-six”, type one two our six in the phoneme.

• Dollar amounts:

With dollar amounts, write the words in the order they are read: $12.46 sounds best as twelve dollars and forty-six-cents.

• Years:

If you want 1246 to read as “twelve forty-six”, type twelve-forty-six in the phoneme.

• Phone numbers:

A simple way to get the AI to read a number as a phone number is to add spaces or dashes between the number. For (206) 555-3131 you would just enter it as "2 0 6 - 5 5 5 - 3 1 3 1” in text-to speech. If you do not want to have so many spaces in subtitles, put each number in phoneme: two zero six five five five three one three one.