SSML Tags

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What are SSML tags?

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SSML tag examples

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Adding a pause

1. Time: Defines the number of s or ms
2. Strength: Chooses the strength using the following values:

• None: no pause
• Pause: the same duration as after a period
• x-weak: the same as none.
• weak: sets a pause of the same duration as the pause after a comma
• medium: has the same strength as weak
• strong: sets a pause of the same duration as the pause after a sentence
• x-strong: sets a pause of the same duration as the pause after a paragraph.

<speak> Mary had a little lamb <break time="3s"/>Whose fleece was white as snow. </speak>

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Emphasizing words

<emphasis> </emphasis>

1. Strong - increases the volume and slows the speaking rate
2. Moderate - increases the volume and slows the speaking rate, but less than Strong
3. Reduced - decreases the volume and speeds up the speaking rate

<speak> I already told you we're <emphasis level="strong">nearly</emphasis> there </speak>

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Set a different language

<lang> </lang>

<speak> <xml:lang=”es”>Puedo hablar español</xml:lang=”es”> </speak>

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Adding a pause between paragraphs

<p> </p>

<speak>
<p>This is the first paragraph.</p> <p>This is the second paragraph.</p>
</speak>

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Using phonetic pronunciation

<phoneme> </phoneme>

1. Alphabet, with the following options:

• ipa, meaning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) will be used
• x-sampa, which indicates that the Extended Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) will be used.

2. ph, specifies how the text should be pronounced.

<speak>Say <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="prəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n">pronunciation</phoneme>. </speak>

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Controlling volume, speaking rate, and pitch

<prosody> </prosody>

1. Volume:

• default: resets the volume to default value
• silent, x-soft, soft, medium, loud, x-loud: sets the volume to predefined value
• +ndB, -ndB: changes the volume relative to the current level

2. Rate:

• x-slow, slow, medium, fast,x-fast: sets the pitch to a predefined value
• n%: a percentage change in speaking pace.

<speak>
Sometimes some words need to be said <prosody volume=”loud>louder</prosody> and sometimes a lower volume <prosody volume="-6dB">is a more effective way of interacting with your audience. </prosody> 
</speak>

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Adding a pause between sentences

<s> </s>

<speak>
<s>Here we go round the mulberry bush</s>
<s>On a cold and frosty morning</s>
</speak>

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Controlling how special words are spoken

<say-as> </say-as>

• characters or spell-out
• cardinal or number
• digits
• fraction
• unit
• date
• time
• address
• telephone.

<speak><say-as interpret-as=”telephone”>+19999999</say-as></speak> 

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Pronouncing acronyms and abbreviations

<sub> </sub>

<speak> My favorite chemical element is <sub alias="Mercury">Hg</sub>, because it looks so shiny. </speak>