KB: Changing how NeoSpeech pronounces words

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KB#: 141
Last updated: March 01 2006

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The information in this article applies to:

• NeoSpeech synthesizers
• ZoomText 9.0

PROBLEM

Occasionally, the NeoSpeech synthesizer will incorrectly pronounce a word. Most often, this problem occurs with words that have unusual spellings – such as proper names, acronyms, and abbreviations.

SOLUTION

With NeoSpeech, you can modify how words are pronounced as follows:

1. From the ZoomText menu bar, select Reader > Synthesizer...

   The Speech dialog will open to the Synthesizer tab.

2. In the Synthesizer combo box, select NeoSpeech English.
3. In the Voice combo box, select the voice ( Paul or Kate ) for which you want to modify word pronunciations. Note: Paul and Kate have separate dictionary files, therefore changes in one are not applied in the other.
4. Click the Options… button.

   The English User Dictionary Editor dialog opens.

5. Click the Add Word button.

   The Edit Word dialog opens.

6. In the Source edit box, type in the word, acronym or abbreviation that you would like to add. For example: "Mr." (the abbreviation for "mister").
7. In the Target edit box, type the way you would like the word to be pronounced phonetically. For the above example ("Mr."), type the word "mister".
8. Click the OK button.
9. Click the Read Word button to test your new pronunciation
10. Click Close .

    You will be prompted to save your changes to the dictionary.

11. Click the Yes button to save the changes.
12. Click the OK button to close the Speech dialog box.
13. Restart ZoomText. This is required in order for the changes to take effect.