WINDICT(1dtk)

NAME
windict - DECtalk Software dictionary building tool

SYNOPSIS

windict [-h]

FLAGS

-h  Displays help text

DESCRIPTION

The windict program allows you to compile a dictionary work file, containing words or acronyms for which you have changed the pronunciation, into a user dictionary. The user dictionary can then be loaded into DECtalk Software applications.

(A related program, userdict, allows you to compile a user dictionary from a file.)

The syntax for a dictionary entry is a word or letter string to be pronounced (called a grapheme string), followed by a phoneme string. For example: coffee [t'iy]. An entry line can have up to 256 characters.

A grapheme (letter) string is comprised of legal graphemes. Legal graphemes are: a-z, 0-9 and select punctuation marks (", !, @, &, (,), -, and /). These characters cannot be used at the beginning of the grapheme string. Uppercase letters match only uppercase; lowercase letters match either uppercase or lowercase.

The phoneme string is made up of legal phonemes. Phonemes are always in square brackets but may be in either uppercase or lowercase. For example, to pronounce the word "coffee" as "tea", enter the following:

coffee [t'iy]

For Linux systems, if you want the dictionary just created to become your default user dictionary, copy it into your login directory and rename it udict_xx.dic, where xx designates the language for which it is intended (us, uk, sp, la, gr, fr). Every time you run speak, it will automatically load udict_xx.dic as the default user dictionary for the particular language.

For Tru64 UNIX systems, if you want the dictionary just created to become your default user dictionary, copy it into your login directory and rename it user.dic. Every time you run speak, it will automatically load user.dic as the default user dictionary.

Dictionary files other than default user dictionaries have no name or location restrictions other than those of your operating system. These files can be loaded whenever you want to use them.

RESTRICTIONS

A dictionary entry must start at the first character of the line. Starting on any character other than the first makes the line a comment, and it will not be processed.

Input files have a default extension of .tab but can be any legal alphanumeric. Output dictionary files have the extension of .dic and must have that extension for the loader to find the file correctly. If no output file is specified, a file with the same name and .dic extension is created for the output.

Assume that DECtalk Software pronounces all words, even the most difficult ones, correctly. Unknown words are searched in the order in which they are loaded.

RELATED INFORMATION

dectalk(1dtk), speak(1dtk), say(1dtk), aclock(1dtk)

DECtalk Software Programmer's Guide