Improving Pronunciation of Indian Names with Deepgram TTS
When using text-to-speech (TTS) models, accurate pronunciation of names can be a frequent challenge, particularly for names that aren't common in the model’s primary language. For example, pronunciation of Indian names like Prasanna, Mangesh, and Anil may be difficult for TTS models designed primarily for US-English speakers.
Understanding the Limitation
Currently, Deepgram's TTS models are focused on US-English, which can lead to less-than-ideal pronunciation of non-English names or names not common in the US-English lexicon. However, plans are in place to enhance pronunciation support, allowing these models to handle a much wider variety of pronunciations more effectively in future updates.
Temporary Solutions
Until these improvements are rolled out, there are several strategies you could try to improve pronunciation using our existing features:
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Customized Phonetic Spelling: You can manually adjust the spelling of words to reflect their phonetic pronunciation more accurately. This involves spelling out names phonetically in the text you provide to the TTS service.
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Using Tips and Tricks from Deepgram: Deepgram provides documentation for TTS prompting that can offer guidance on how to get better pronunciation by adjusting text inputs: Text-to-Speech Prompting.
Conclusion
Addressing pronunciation issues for specific names can be challenging but can often be enhanced by using phonetic spellings and adjustments to your input text. While waiting for improved support for diverse name pronunciation in future Deepgram updates, employing these strategies can lead to more satisfying TTS output.