[DECtalk] Adding words to Dectalk dictionary

Alex H. linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com
Fri Jan 28 15:17:54 EST 2011 

Hi Corine,

Thanks for the reply. This is exciting news! I'd gladly pay $19.99 for
a DECTalk Sapi5 synth. I'll be able to use it with NVDA to read long
documents and sing. I believe singing should be possible with the SAPI
version using TTSApp.exe. It allows playback of the typed in text and
will even export to wave files! 4.6.4 is a pretty solid version of DT
as well, so this is great news.


Alex

On 1/28/11, Corine Bickley <corine.bickley at gallaudet.edu> wrote:
> Hi Alex,
> I'm sorry I've taken so long to reply.
> I haven't tried singing with the new version yet (only accessing it thru a
> screen reader) but we do hope to have it able to sing. If it doesn't work
> right now, we'll fix it so it does sing.
> The version of DT SAPI to be available from Enable Rehab is DT 4.6.4.
> We are still considering the cost. Our goal is to make the release easily
> available to all who are interested, and yet generate a little bit of income
> to keep going with changes that users point out. My first thought was $19.95
> as a download. Snail-mailed CDs would be a little more to cover the cost of
> mailing and the CD.
> What do you think?
> corine bickley
>
> On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 2:26 PM, Alex H. <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I think that list is a pretty complete, i don't know a lot about how
>> the dictionary actually works but know hponemes pretty well. Hopefully
>> this can be implimented.
>>
>> I have afew questions.
>>
>> Will a users be able to sing with the Sapi dectalk
>> What version is this based on of dectalk?
>> Wht will be the cost of this synth?
>>
>> thanks!
>> Alex
>>
>> On 1/25/11, Jayson Smith <ratguy at insightbb.com> wrote:
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > As for getting the word out, here's one thought. As many of you probably
>> > know, RSGames is a free service offering Internet multi-player Monopoly,
>> > Uno, Yahtzee and Blackjack games which are totally accessible to the
>> blind
>> > using a special client. This client runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It
>> > works directly with most popular screen readers. Recently RSGames
>> > started
>> > running text advertisements in order to defray the costs of running the
>> > service. Ads cost $15 per month and reach a targeted audience of blind
>> > gamers. Anyone interested in an ad can hit a single keystroke to have a
>> copy
>> > of that ad Emailed to them, along with a web link to obtain more
>> information
>> > about the product or service. Payments should be made via Paypal. For
>> more
>> > info about RSGames, go to www.rsgames.co.nr, and to ask about ads, write
>> to
>> > rsgames at gmail.com. When constructing your ad, you should provide a
>> website
>> > where potential customers can get more info.
>> >
>> > Other ways of reaching out would be Twitter, Facebook, etc. Obviously
>> this
>> > list. Fred's Head, Top Tech Tidbits on Thursday, etc.
>> >
>> > Now, a few questions. Is this going to be a Fonix product? Any estimate
>> on a
>> > release date? Price? Will it have an exceptions dictionary? Imho it
>> should.
>> > Also imho novice users should be able to use standard misspelling
>> techniques
>> > to adjust the pronunciation, but advanced DECtalk geeks should be able
>> > to
>> > get down to the phoneme level if they wish.
>> >
>> > Another thing that always bugged me about DECtalk is that the end user
>> > didn't have access to the d phoneme used in regular speech. Thus, when
>> using
>> > a custom pronunciation dictionary or making DECtalk sing, the d sounds
>> > always sounded a bit weird. Is this going to be fixed?
>> > Thanks, and I look forward to playing with this!
>> > Jayson
>> >
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: <Dectalk at aol.com>
>> > To: <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>> > Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 10:33 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Adding words to Dectalk dictionary
>> >
>> >
>> >> Hi guys!  I'll be in charge of the Dectalk  dictionary, but I don't
>> >> have
>> >> anything yet.  If it will do phrases, this  won't be a problem.  But,
>> I'm
>> >> thinking that the dictionary is single word  only.  So I have no clue
>> how
>> >> to
>> >> handle double pronunciations.
>> >>
>> >> One question I have is, is there a control character  that appears as a
>> >> space, that I could use as a command for an alternative  pronunciation?
>>  I
>> >>
>> >> know
>> >> in one Dectalk  version it was control something, but I can't remember
>> >> what
>> >> it  was.
>> >>
>> >> I would live to stay away from a visible command so it  won't show up
>> >> in
>> a
>> >> document.  I have no clue how.
>> >>
>> >> I have another question.  If E-voice still  existed, I could let
>> everyone
>> >> know about the Dectalk SAPI 5 within hours.   I miss E-voice to no end!
>> >> So
>> >> on the internet, what is the best way to get  the word out about this
>> SAPI
>> >>
>> >> 5?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> SNOOPI BOTTEN
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> In a message dated 1/24/2011 9:37:25 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>> >> musicalman1 at comcast.net writes:
>> >>
>> >> Well, I  am not familiar with the Dectalk dictionary in any way, but
>> those
>> >> kinds of  rules would not be easy to implement even if such a
>> >> dictionary
>> >> existed. I  believe most synths that can pronounce words two different
>> >> ways
>> >> use  context clues to figure out which pronunciation to use. For
>> instance,
>> >> read  has two pronunciations, as you know. For example:
>> >> you should read the book  by Thursday.
>> >> or
>> >> The book should be read by Thursday.
>> >> You could  probably just put phrases in the dictionary, and changing
>> their
>> >> pronunciations accordingly. That is, if the Dectalk dictionary supports
>> >> phrases, which it should although i'm just guessing here. This might
>> work
>> >> in
>> >> the example you mentioned, as putting words in front of record would
>> >> determine how it is pronounced. For example, you would never say, the
>> >> re-cord. So it is safe to change this in the dictionary. you could
>> >> probably
>> >> do that for a lot of different word combinations and it would be
>> >> pretty
>> >> accurate. Adding all these rules would take a lot of time, and you
>>  would
>> >> have to be careful with it. If the Dectalk dictionary supports  context
>> >> clues
>> >> though, I wouldn't know how you would help it determine  which
>> >> pronunciation
>> >> is correct.
>> >> These are just my thoughts. I don't  know how accurate this is, but I
>> >> am
>> >> pretty sure it is a good work-around  if no other can be found.
>> >>
>> >> ----- Original Message -----
>> >> From: "Blake  Roberts" <beroberts at hughes.net>
>> >> To: "'DECtalk Discussions'"  <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>> >> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 8:31  PM
>> >> Subject: [DECtalk] Adding words to Dectalk dictionary
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>> Hi  all,
>> >>> Snoopi and I have been involved with the Dectalk SAPI project for
>> >>> several
>> >>> months now. I am happy to report that a SAPI Dectalk is  nearing
>> reality.
>> >>>
>> >>> The project leader gave Snoopi the task of  adding words to the
>> >>> Dectalk
>> >>> dictionary. Specifically, enabling Dectalk  to say the same word two
>> >>> different ways, such as record. Does anyone  have ideas on how the
>> >>> Dectalk
>> >>> dictionary can be modified so that  Dectalk will know when to use
>> >> different
>> >>> pronunciations for the same  word?
>> >>>
>> >>> I know Snoopi is on this list. I am writing on his  behalf because
>> Snoopi
>> >>> asked me to inquire of people familiar with  Dectalk. Any advice would
>> be
>> >>> appreciated.
>> >>>  Blake
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>  _______________________________________________
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>> >>> DECtalk at bluegrasspals.com
>> >>>  http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >> http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
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>> >
>> >
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