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How to solve the problem of inaccurate pronunciation in speech synthesis?

To solve the problem of inaccurate pronunciation in speech synthesis, you can take the following approaches:

  1. Use a High-Quality Text-to-Speech (TTS) Engine with Pronunciation Dictionaries

    • A good TTS system should include a pronunciation dictionary that maps words (especially proper nouns, abbreviations, or technical terms) to their correct phonetic transcriptions.
    • Example: If the word "NVIDIA" is mispronounced as "nuh-VID-ee-uh," the TTS engine should have an entry like NVIDIA → /ˈnviːdɪə/.
  2. Phonetic Transcription (IPA or Custom Rules)

    • For words that are frequently mispronounced, manually specify their International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) or custom phonetic spelling.
    • Example: In a TTS system, you might define "Cupertino" → "kupərˈtinoʊ" to ensure correct pronunciation.
  3. Leverage AI-Based Pronunciation Correction

    • Some advanced TTS models use machine learning to predict and correct pronunciation based on context.
    • Example: If "read" is used in the past tense ("I read a book"), the TTS should pronounce it as /rɛd/ instead of /riːd/.
  4. Human-Like Pronunciation Fine-Tuning

    • Allow users or developers to adjust pronunciation manually through a user interface or configuration files.
    • Example: In Tencent Cloud Text-to-Speech (TTS), you can use SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language) to control pronunciation, such as:
      <speak>  
        <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="ˈnviːdɪə">NVIDIA</phoneme>  
      </speak>  
      
    • Tencent Cloud TTS also supports custom pronunciation dictionaries and neural voice models that improve accuracy for domain-specific terms.
  5. Domain-Specific Training

    • If the TTS is used in a specific industry (e.g., medical, legal), train the model on domain-specific vocabulary to improve pronunciation accuracy.
    • Example: A medical TTS should correctly pronounce "hypertension" (/haɪˈpɜːrtənʃn/) instead of misreading it.

By combining these methods—especially using a robust TTS solution like Tencent Cloud TTS with SSML and custom dictionaries—you can significantly reduce pronunciation inaccuracies.