To get started, make sure you set the Say element type attribute to SSML. See https://docs.ytel.com/docs/say for more information.

Break

The Break element controls pausing or other prosodic boundaries between words. Using Break between any pair of tokens is optional. If this element is not present between words, the break is automatically determined based on the linguistic context.

Element Attributes

Example

The following example shows how to use the Break element to pause between steps:

<response>  
  <say type='ssml'>
    Step 1, take a deep breath. <break time="200ms"/>
    Step 2, exhale.
    Step 3, take a deep breath again. <break strength="weak"/>
    Step 4, exhale.
  </say>

<say-as>

The <say-as> element lets you specify information about the type of text construct that is contained within the element.

Attributes

• interpret-as: Determines how the value is spoken
• format: Optional formatting for specific interpret-as values
• detail: Optional detail level for specific interpret-as values

Supported Values

• cardinal: Speaks numbers as words
• ordinal: Speaks numbers as ordinal terms
• characters: Spells out words letter by letter
• fraction: Converts fractions to spoken words
• expletive or beep: Censors text
• unit: Converts units to appropriate form
• verbatim or spell-out: Spells out text
• time: Speaks time in a natural format
• date: Speaks dates with configurable detail

Example

<response>  
  <say type='ssml'>
    Cardinal value <say-as interpret-as="cardinal">12345</say-as>
    Ordinal value <say-as interpret-as="ordinal">1</say-as>
    Characters value <say-as interpret-as="characters">can</say-as>
    Fraction value <say-as interpret-as="fraction">5+1/2</say-as>
    Expletive or beep value <say-as interpret-as="expletive">censor this</say-as>
    Unit value <say-as interpret-as="unit">10 foot</say-as>
    Verbatim or spell-out value <say-as interpret-as="verbatim">abcdefg</say-as>
    Time value <say-as interpret-as="time" format="hms12">2:30pm</say-as>  
    Date value with detail 1 <say-as interpret-as="date" format="yyyymmdd" detail="1"> 1960-09-10</say-as> 
    Date value with detail 2 <say-as interpret-as="date" format="dmy" detail="2"> 10-9-1960 </say-as>    
  </say>

<p> and <s>

The <p> and <s> element lets you create paragraphs and sentences.

Use <s>...</s> tags to wrap full sentences, especially if they contain SSML elements that change prosody (that is, <audio>, <break>, <emphasis>, <par>, <prosody>, <say-as>, <seq>, and <sub>).

If a break in speech is intended to be long enough that you can hear it, use <s>...</s> tags and put that break between sentences.

Example

<response>  
  <say type='ssml'>
    <p>
      <s>This is sentence one.</s>
      <s>This is sentence two.</s>
    </p>
  </say>

Additional Notes

• The <s> tag helps define sentence boundaries
• SSML elements within <s> tags can modify how the sentence is spoken
• Proper use of these tags can improve speech synthesis clarity

Prosody

The Prosody element lets you customize the pitch, speaking rate, and volume of text contained by the element. Currently the rate, pitch, and volume attributes are supported.

The rate and volume attributes can be set according to the W3 specification. There are three options for setting the value of the pitch attribute:

Example

<response>  
  <say type='ssml'>
    <prosody rate="slow" pitch="-2st">Can you hear me now?</prosody>
  </say>
</response>

Audio

The Audio element supports the insertion of recorded audio files and other audio formats in conjunction with synthesized speech output.

Refer to the W3 specification for detailed information: https://www.w3.org/TR/speech-synthesis/#S3.3.1

Attributes

Example

<response>  
  <say type='ssml'>
    <audio src="cat_purr_close.ogg">
      <desc>a cat purring</desc>
      PURR (sound didn't load)
    </audio>
  </say>
</response>