System and method for providing locale-specific interpretation of text data
First Claim
1. A system for providing text interpretation rules for a text-to-speech engine, comprising:
- a text-to-speech engine that receives text-based information and converts the text-based information to spoken words;
a set of locale-specific rules that define how certain text-based information should be interpreted in the text-to-speech engine, wherein said set of locale-specific rules include text interpretation rules for a plurality of languages, dialects or locations.
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Abstract
A system and method for generating native-sounding speech in a system prompt or in a text-to-speech processor or application is disclosed. A number of locales are defined representing particular languages, regions and dialects, and a set of locale-specific rules are defined for each locale. The locale-specific rules define how certain types of words, symbols, characters, punctuation and other elements should be interpreted. The locale-specific rules are used by a messaging system to generate native-sounding prompts that are played for callers. The locale-specific rules may also be used by a text-to-speech process to generate native-sounding speech for the user. The locale-specific rules may be implemented in a software class, program or application. The locale-specific rules incorporate a hierarchical structure in which rules that are common to a number of languages are grouped at one level and more specific rules are organized at lower levels in the hierarchy.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A system for providing text interpretation rules for a text-to-speech engine, comprising:
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a text-to-speech engine that receives text-based information and converts the text-based information to spoken words;
a set of locale-specific rules that define how certain text-based information should be interpreted in the text-to-speech engine, wherein said set of locale-specific rules include text interpretation rules for a plurality of languages, dialects or locations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for providing native-sounding messages when converting text to speech, comprising:
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identifying a selected locale to be used when converting said text to speech;
identifying one or more elements in said text that should be interpreted using locale-specific rules; and
accessing a set of locale-specific rules for instructions regarding how to convert said one or more elements to speech, wherein said locale-specific rules are associated with said selected locale. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for converting numbers in a text file to native-sounding speech, comprising:
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identifying digits in the text file that is being converted to speech;
classifying the digits as a time, date or number;
identifying a selected locale that is associated with the text file; and
accessing a set of locale-specific rules for the selected locale to determine how to convert the digits to speech. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for providing native-sounding prompts, comprising:
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identifying components parts of a system prompt that is to be played for a caller, wherein said component parts are to be concatenated to form the system prompt;
identifying at least one of said component parts as having digits;
classifying the digits as a time, date or number;
determining a selected locale that is associated with the caller; and
accessing a set of locale-specific rules for the selected locale to determine how to format the digits when they are used in the system prompt. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon for use in a system for providing native-sounding text-to-speech conversion, the computer program product comprising:
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means for determining a selected locale to be used in converting text to speech;
means for identifying one or more numbers in a text file that is being converted to speech;
means for accessing a set of locale-specific rules associated with the selected locale; and
means for converting the one or more numbers in the text file to speech using the locale-specific rules. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification