This page will walk you through how to use WSL's Respellings system to shape a word's pronunciation.

WSL's respellings system allows you to give precise pronunciation instructions to the AI.

Respellings let you format a word within the text body param in a manner that tells the AI exactly what sound each syllable should make—and which syllables should be emphasized.

A respelling is composed of the following components:

  • each individual syllable, spelled using consonants and vowels representing specific sounds (please reference the Respellings Chart for those mappings)
  • a dash separating each individual syllable
  • at least one capitalized syllable to indicate word stress
  • unstressed syllables remain in lowercase

Every respelling must be contained within two colons.

For example, "tuple" is respelled as ::TUH-puhl::. The noun form of "live" is respelled as ::LYV::.

To make a call using a respelling, simply include the formatted respelling in your raw data input in the text body parameter:

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.wellsaidlabs.com/v1/tts/stream' \
--header 'X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
--header 'Accept: audio/mpeg' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
  "text": "Coming in ::LYV:: from Seattle!",
  "speaker_id": "3"
}' > live.mp3

Respellings Reference Chart

Vowels Consonants
To hear as in type For example, To hear as in type For example,
a ant A ::ANT:: b bunk B ::BUHNK::
a spa AH ::SPAH:: ch chart CH ::CHAHRT::
a all AW ::AWL:: d dust D ::DUHST::
a eight AY ::AYT:: f first F ::FURST::
e egg EH ::EHG:: g glow G ::GLOH::
e ease EE ::EEZ:: h horse H ::HORS::
i in IH ::IHN:: j jell J ::JEHL::
i isle Y ::YL:: k kite K ::KYT::
o oat OH ::OHT:: l laugh K ::LAF::
o ooh OO ::OO:: m mask M ::MASK::
o foot UU ::FUUT:: n nest N ::NEHST::
u up UH ::UHP:: ng ring NG ::RIHNG::
nk rink NK ::RIHNK::
p pop P ::PAHP::
VOWEL COMBINATIONS qu quote KW ::KWOHT::
To hear as in type For example, r rain R ::RAYN::
ar car AR ::KAR:: s slice S ::SLYS::
er error ERR ::ERR-ur:: sh shy SH ::SHY::
or more OR ::MOR:: t tarte T ::TART::
ow cow OW ::KOW:: th though DH ::DHOH::
oy oy OY ::OY:: th think TH ::THIHNK::
ur urn UR ::URN:: v van V ::VAN::
w win W ::WIHN::
x axe KS ::AKS::
y yes Y ::YEHS::
z zen Z ::ZEHN::
zh measure ZH ::MEH-zhur::