{"id":4973,"date":"2020-05-22T09:55:47","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T07:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/?p=4973"},"modified":"2022-01-05T20:05:14","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T19:05:14","slug":"how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/voice-digital-assistants\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\/","title":{"rendered":"How to teach Alexa to pronounce your name"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-table-of-contents uagb-toc__align-left uagb-toc__columns-1  uagb-block-87d7b701      \"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-scroll= \"1\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-offset= \"30\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"uagb-toc__wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"uagb-toc__title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTable Of Contents\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"uagb-toc__list-wrap \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<ol class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#what-is-deep-learning\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">What is deep learning?<\/a><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#how-does-alexa-use-deep-learning\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">How does Alexa use deep learning?<\/a><ul class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#self-learning\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">Self-learning<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#let-alexa-learn-accents\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">Let Alexa learn accents<\/a><ul class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#reinforcement-learning\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">Reinforcement learning<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#teaching-alexa-to-pronounce-things\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">Teaching Alexa to pronounce things<\/a><ul class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#speech-synthesis-markup-language\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">Speech synthesis markup language\u00a0<\/a><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#using-phonemes\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">Using phonemes<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"uagb-toc__list\"><a href=\"#want-to-learn-more\" class=\"uagb-toc-link__trigger\">Want to learn more?<\/a><\/ul><\/ul><\/ul><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n<p>Deep <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-fde4747a\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> promises to deliver a true revolution in how we tackle complex problems. But to most people, deep <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-46275218\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> seems like some arcane dark science. However, it is one of the key planks that enabled <a style=\"user-select: auto;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/dev-hub\/designer-cxo\/voice-based-situational-design-where-context-is-king\/\" class=\"ek-link\">voice assistants<\/a>, such as Alexa, to get so proficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the biggest challenges for voice assistants is <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-7431ec5\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> different accents and languages.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the runup to Codemotion\u2019s first <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-c87e498d\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/online_and_offline\">online<\/span> <a style=\"user-select: auto;\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/35eQiB6\" class=\"ek-link\">conference on deep learning<\/a>, I explain how deep <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-5a1e996d\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> helps <span id=\"urn:local-annotation-74013\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/amazon_alexa\">Amazon Alexa<\/span> to understand us and how we, <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-d8d64fd4\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/software_developer\">developers<\/span>, can help her do better. We will look at deep reinforcement <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-4ed3fc56\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span>, <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-b218c54b\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/phonetics\">phonetic<\/span> pronunciations, and its <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-3258dce\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/speech\">speech<\/span> synthesis <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-87a235d2\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/markup_language\">markup language<\/span>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-deep-learning\">What is deep learning?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-8782a03\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/deep_learning\">Deep learning<\/span> allows computers to <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" style=\"user-select: auto;\" href=\"https:\/\/deepmind.com\/research\/case-studies\/alphago-the-story-so-far\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">beat humans at Go<\/a>. It has been used to <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" style=\"user-select: auto;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fiercebiotech.com\/medtech\/instant-second-opinion-google-s-deepmind-ai-bests-doctors-at-breast-cancer-screening\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">identify cancers<\/a> in mammograms. It can even create its <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" style=\"user-select: auto;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/tonybradley\/2017\/07\/31\/facebook-ai-creates-its-own-language-in-creepy-preview-of-our-potential-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">own language<\/a>. <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-757147b4\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/deep_learning\">Deep learning<\/span> is a form of <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-f9e6f88f\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/machine_learning\">machine learning<\/span>. In deep <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-558769a5\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span>, you use deep neural networks to identify patterns in <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-2063f26\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/data\">data<\/span> and to make connections between these. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-59617186\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/deep_learning\">Deep learning<\/span> was proposed roughly 15 years ago. But it only really became mainstream when we began to develop sufficiently powerful computers capable of running the deep neural networks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[jwp-video n=&#8221;1&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-does-alexa-use-deep-learning\">How does Alexa use deep learning?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Believe it or not, Alexa has now been about for over 5 years, arriving with the first Echo speaker in Autumn 2014. Since then it has developed enormously. Many of Alexa&#8217;s skills have been powered by deep <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-b9edfc39\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span>. Some of the changes have been subtle, like allowing it to identify where she needs help from a human to improve her <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-f460f51\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/speech\">speech<\/span> models. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other changes are more significant, especially for <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-d319c491\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/software_developer\">developers<\/span>. For instance, this speaker uses transfer <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-707ece90\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> to make life easy for <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-adcc6865\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/software_developer\">developers<\/span>. This allows them to access complex <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-330b3ecb\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/domain_knowledge\">domain knowledge<\/span> via a set of skill blueprints. &#8220;Essentially, with deep <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-b7a2a9b2\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span>, we\u2019re able to <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-7677b828\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/conceptual_model\">model<\/span> a large number of domains and transfer that <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-b4a38985\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> to a new domain or skill,\u201d said Rohit Prasad, vice president and chief <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-b05d29f4\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/scientist\">scientist<\/span> of <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-af4d40d3\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-organization\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/amazon-com\">Amazon<\/span> Alexa <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" style=\"user-select: auto;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/amazon-alexa-2018-machine-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">in a 2018 interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-self-learning\">Self-learning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One really important way Alexa leverages deep <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-3850c9c\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> is for self-<span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-b84d421a\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span>. When you ask it to play a song, but can\u2019t remember the exact name, it will tell you \u201csorry, I can\u2019t find that\u201d. When you repeat the correct name, it will learn what you meant. Each time, it will get better.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-let-alexa-learn-accents\">Let Alexa learn accents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the amazing things is how good Amazon&#8217;s voice assistant is at <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-55ec4430\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/understanding\">understanding<\/span> different <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-ed2ecb1a\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/accent_sociolinguistics\">accents<\/span>. We have all seen videos of people with strong <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-e8ed8efb\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/accent_sociolinguistics\">accents<\/span> <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" style=\"user-select: auto;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fa621_MS3xI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">struggling with voice recognition<\/a>. Yet Alexa can <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-d7352896\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/understanding\">understand<\/span> five distinct versions of <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-687ef54d\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/english_language\">English<\/span> (Australian, British, Canadian, Indian and US)? Even more impressively, it can cope with multiple regional <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-e0b2124a\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/accent_sociolinguistics\">accents<\/span>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, how is it that voice recognition has come so far in such a short time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reinforcement-learning\">Reinforcement learning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The earliest releases of the Alexa <span id=\"urn:enhancement-68d6af7a\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/mobile_app\">app<\/span> allowed you to correct anything it<mark class=\"annotation-text annotation-text-yoast\" id=\"annotation-text-f2c55cf2-0988-49eb-a815-6ee5d0a344f9\"><\/mark> got wrong. This was pure supervised <span id=\"urn:enhancement-b9e80285\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span>, where each correction added to the available <span id=\"urn:enhancement-b5302105\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/training\">training<\/span> <span id=\"urn:enhancement-bc4e5fce\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/data\">data<\/span>. But nowadays, all the <span id=\"urn:enhancement-ac3bb035\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/mobile_app\">app<\/span> asks is \u201cDid Alexa do what you wanted?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/image1-5.png\" alt=\"alexa\" class=\"wp-image-4976\" width=\"500\" height=\"487\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/image1-5.png 691w, https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/image1-5-300x293.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption>Screenshot from the Alexa app<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This is because <span id=\"urn:enhancement-8e8a4963\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-organization\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/amazon-com\">Amazon<\/span> now uses reinforcement <span id=\"urn:enhancement-d4b782fe\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> to teach Alexa. Reinforcement <span id=\"urn:enhancement-558efd3c\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span> works by letting Alexa know whether she made a mistake. But it doesn\u2019t explicitly teach her what the correct outcome is.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-teaching-alexa-to-pronounce-things\">Teaching Alexa to pronounce things<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Amazon&#8217;s voice assistant is pretty good at <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-ff58d06b\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/pronunciation\">pronunciation<\/span>, but she is far from foolproof. This is especially true when it comes to the names of skills (Alexa\u2019s equivalent to an <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-a1937a8a\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/mobile_app\">app<\/span>). It usually relies on the <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-9c520eb1\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/phonetics\">phonetic<\/span> rules she has learned. In some languages, these are really easy. But in others, like English, it can be really hard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, did you know that the letter combination \u2018ough\u2019 has more than ten distinct pronunciations, including thought, though, bough, enough, cough and through? This is hard enough, but brand names and <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-ffb6f274\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/mobile_app\">app<\/span> names often have their own pronunciations. Fortunately, <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-40e8061\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-organization\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/amazon-com\">Amazon<\/span> offers <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-73898a42\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/software_developer\">developers<\/span> ways to control how Alexa pronounces words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-speech-synthesis-markup-language\">Speech synthesis markup language&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The main approach for teaching pronunciation is through <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/developer.amazon.com\/en-US\/docs\/alexa\/custom-skills\/speech-synthesis-markup-language-ssml-reference.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">SSML<\/a> or speech synthesis <span id=\"urn:enhancement-33ba9d85\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/markup_language\">markup language<\/span>. This is a powerful language that allows you to control how Alexa speaks. It allows you to add pauses, inflections, and other <span id=\"urn:enhancement-5387192a\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/speech\">speech<\/span> effects. <span id=\"urn:enhancement-92b10d0\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/speech_synthesis_markup_language\">SSML<\/span> is an <span id=\"urn:enhancement-2be28964\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/xml\">XML<\/span> language where you describe exactly what you want to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"HTML, XML\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"xml\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-xml\"><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">speak<\/span>&gt;<\/span>\n    I <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">emphasis<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">level<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"strong\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span>really<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">emphasis<\/span>&gt;<\/span> want to learn SSML.\n<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">speak<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">HTML, XML<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">xml<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>Alexa\u2019s <span id=\"urn:enhancement-c7ff4984\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/speech_synthesis_markup_language\">SSML<\/span> allows you to change a huge range of things. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><code>&lt;amazon:domain&gt;<\/code> which changes the style of speech (e.g. conversation, news report, etc.)<\/li><li><code>&lt;amazon:effect&gt;<\/code> which lets you define things like shouting, whispering, etc.<\/li><li><code>&lt;amazon:emotion&gt;<\/code> which tells Alexa to sound excited or disappointed<\/li><li><code>&lt;prosody&gt;<\/code> which controls the rate, pitch and volume of what Alexa says<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many other tags available as described <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/developer.amazon.com\/en-US\/docs\/alexa\/custom-skills\/speech-synthesis-markup-language-ssml-reference.html#ssml-supported\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-using-phonemes\">Using phonemes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So, how do you control <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:local-annotation-701573\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/amazon_alexa\">Alexa<\/span>\u2019s <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-baf34d3d\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/pronunciation\">pronunciation<\/span> of a word? The answer is using the <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-df6dd615\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/speech_synthesis_markup_language\">SSML<\/span> <code style=\"user-select: auto;\">&lt;phoneme&gt;<\/code> tag. This tag uses something called the <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" style=\"user-select: auto;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/International_Phonetic_Alphabet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" class=\"ek-link\">international phonetic alphabet<\/a> (<span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-eedbeef4\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/international_phonetic_alphabet\">IPA<\/span>) to learn how a word should sound. You may have seen <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-f13ab4db\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/international_phonetic_alphabet\">IPA<\/span> spellings of words on Wikipedia. They look like a weird mix of letters from different alphabets. E.g. Berlin (\/b\u025c\u02d0r\u02c8l\u026an\/; <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-334cd9fb\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/german_language\">German<\/span>: [b\u025b\u0281\u02c8li\u02d0n]). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many common names have different <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-d6ffda6e\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/pronunciation\">pronunciations<\/span> in different countries. Take my full name Tobias. In <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-e20b29e6\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/english_language\">English<\/span>, the middle syllable is <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-f3a371aa\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/pronunciation\">pronounced<\/span> \u2018buy\u2019, but in <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-d45d2f9c\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/german_language\">German<\/span>, it\u2019s \u2018bee\u2019. So, I could explain the two <span style=\"user-select: auto;\" id=\"urn:enhancement-20499fb\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/pronunciation\">pronunciations<\/span> like this:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"HTML, XML\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"xml\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-xml\"><span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">speak<\/span>&gt;<\/span>\nThis is how <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">phoneme<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">alphabet<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"ipa\"<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">ph<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\" t\u0259\u02c8ba\u026a\u2009\u0259s\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span>Tobias<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">phoneme<\/span>&gt;<\/span> is pronounced in English. In German, it is pronounced  <span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;<span class=\"hljs-name\">phoneme<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">alphabet<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"ipa\"<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-attr\">ph<\/span>=<span class=\"hljs-string\">\"to\u02c8bi\u02d0as\"<\/span>&gt;<\/span>Tobias<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">phoneme<\/span>&gt;<\/span>.\n<span class=\"hljs-tag\">&lt;\/<span class=\"hljs-name\">speak<\/span>&gt;<\/span><\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">HTML, XML<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">xml<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>Of course, with deep <span id=\"urn:enhancement-19764084\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/learning\">learning<\/span>, it won\u2019t be long before computers can learn how names should be <span id=\"urn:enhancement-804e5879\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/pronunciation\">pronounced<\/span> using the same contextual clues we use.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-want-to-learn-more\">Want to learn more?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re interested in how AIs are getting better at natural human-like conversation, you should check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/35eQiB6\" class=\"ek-link\">Codemotion <span id=\"urn:local-annotation-512845\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/deep_learning\">Deep Learning<\/span> Conference<\/a>. In particular, Mandy Mantha\u2019s talk on <strong>Building Scalable <span id=\"urn:enhancement-b6feb0f3\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/state_of_the_art\">state-of-the-art<\/span> Conversational <span id=\"urn:enhancement-e02f9068\" class=\"textannotation disambiguated wl-thing\" itemid=\"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl01770\/entity\/artificial_intelligence\">AI<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deep learning promises to deliver a true revolution in how we tackle complex problems. But to most people, deep learning seems like some arcane dark science. However, it is one of the key planks that enabled voice assistants, such as Alexa, to get so proficient. One of the biggest challenges for voice assistants is learning&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/voice-digital-assistants\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":4,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9904],"tags":[],"collections":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4973","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-voice-digital-assistants","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to teach Alexa to pronounce your name - Codemotion Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How can Alexa understand and pronounce so many different accents? 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Discover how deep learning, phonetics, and a novel markup language play their parts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/voice-digital-assistants\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Codemotion Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Codemotion.Italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-22T07:55:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-05T19:05:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/alexa.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Toby Moncaster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tobym76\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CodemotionIT\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Toby Moncaster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/voice-digital-assistants\\\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/voice-digital-assistants\\\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Toby Moncaster\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8b9f025e7d76754fb3d4ffd428b0813b\"},\"headline\":\"How to teach Alexa to pronounce your name\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-22T07:55:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-05T19:05:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/voice-digital-assistants\\\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1000,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/voice-digital-assistants\\\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/alexa.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Voice &amp; Digital Assistants\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/voice-digital-assistants\\\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/voice-digital-assistants\\\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to teach Alexa to pronounce your name - Codemotion Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/voice-digital-assistants\\\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/voice-digital-assistants\\\/how-to-teach-alexa-to-pronounce-your-name\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.codemotion.com\\\/magazine\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/alexa.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-22T07:55:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-05T19:05:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"How can Alexa understand and pronounce so many different accents? 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