Pronouncing names
How VOICE says an athlete's name, what you can change about it today, and what the FINISH athlete record prepares without being linked to VOICE yet.
1. What VOICE does with the name
FINISH sends the name as it displays it: “PELLETREAU, Justine”. Said as is, it would sound wrong, and some voices spell out a word written entirely in capitals. VOICE therefore puts it back in order:
| Sent by FINISH | Spoken name | Said |
|---|---|---|
| PELLETREAU, Justine | First and last name | Justine Pelletreau |
| PELLETREAU, Justine | First name | Justine |
| PELLETREAU, Justine | Name | Pelletreau |
| VAN DALFSEN, Mirthe | First and last name | Mirthe Van Dalfsen |
| BAE, Seo-yeon | First and last name | Seo-yeon Bae |
A word entirely in capitals (longer than one letter) gets an initial capital; a word that already has a lowercase letter is left alone. The name is then read by the voice of the athlete's language: “Mirthe Van Dalfsen”, set to Dutch, is read by a Dutch voice, which pronounces it properly. This is the best lever: give each athlete their language.
2. What can be set today
- The athlete's language (FINISH, Athletes tab, or the
EVENT
.cfevent): it chooses the voice, and therefore the pronunciation. - Spoken name (FINISH, Athletes tab): first name, last name, or both. A difficult name? The first name alone at lap times. On a VOICE computer, the Name spoken at lap times setting forces it for everyone. At the final time, the full name is always said.
- The language's voice on the computer (Voice tab): a Canadian voice and a voice from France do not say names the same way; Test, then keep the one that suits you.
- Mute (FINISH, Athletes tab): nothing is announced for this athlete.
3. The FINISH athlete record: what is linked, what is not yet
An athlete's full record (FINISH, History › Athletes) has a Speech synthesis card: Last name as pronounced, First name as pronounced (phonetic spelling: “Pel-le-troh”), Voice, Rate (-10 to 10), then Mute and what is announced. Here is where each setting stands:
| Setting | Where it counts for VOICE | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Language, Mute, options (Name, Position…, Spoken name, Reading, To go) | The session's Athletes tab in FINISH (kept for the athlete, from one
competition to the next); the language also comes from the .cfevent | Linked: FINISH sends them to VOICE |
| Language and options of the athlete record (History) | Kept in the database | Not linked yet: they are not the ones FINISH sends; use the Athletes tab |
| Last name as pronounced, First name as pronounced | Kept in the database | Not linked yet: FINISH does not send them, VOICE says the name as it is written |
| Voice, Rate (of the record) | Kept in the database | Not linked yet: VOICE uses the voice and rate of the language (Voice tab) |
You can already fill in the pronunciation of difficult names in the records: it is kept with the athlete and will be used once the link exists. This page will say so.
4. A name in Latin letters read by a Japanese, Chinese or Korean voice
FINISH sends the name as it is written, in Latin letters (“Marie Tremblay”). A Japanese, Chinese or Korean voice reads it with its own sounds: the pronunciation is approximate (letters sometimes spelled out, stress put elsewhere). A Russian voice likewise reads a Latin name the Russian way. VOICE has no pronunciation dictionary, and the Last name as pronounced fields of the athlete record are not linked yet. What works today:
- write the athlete's name in their own script (“長谷川 結菜”, “김서연”) in FINISH, if they are announced in their language: that language's voice reads it naturally (the display then shows that script);
- for an athlete of another language, leave their language (French, English…): their name is spoken by a voice of their language, and so are the laps;
- Test in the Voice tab, then the first name alone at lap times if the name comes out badly.
5. In the meantime: a really difficult name
- Try the athlete's original language (a Dutch voice for “Oosterhuis”, a German voice for “Brandstätter”) if the computer has one.
- At lap times, the first name alone (Spoken name: First name).
- For an introduction (ceremony, record), type the sentence the way it is pronounced in Say a message: “Well done, Ondrzhay Vavrzhinets!”.