LOADING INSTRUCTIONS To load in the main program, type RUN “MENU” and press the ENTER key. The programs can then be selected from the menu using the cursor or directly from disc by typing one of the following: RUN “SPEECH” RUN “DEMO” RUN “SPELL“ RUN “EDIT” RUN “SAYFILE” RUN “NOTES” Please note that SPEECH must be loaded before you RUN the DEMO, SPELL, or SAYFILE programs. © 1986. The contents of this disc are the copyright of Superior Software Ltd. WARNING: All rights reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance or broadcasting of this disc is prohibited. THE SIX PROGRAMS ON THIS DISC SPEECH This is the 8K machine-code program. DEMO This program shows off the features of SPEECH. SPELL A simple spelling-test program. This can easily be amended for personal use. SAYFILE This program enables you to say document files. (i.e. files having the extension .DOC). Try loading “SPNOTE.DOC” when SAYFILE asks for a filename. EDIT A program to enable you to add entries to the data dictionary. The filename for the dictionary on this disc is “SPDICN.BIN”. Note: It is advisable to reset the computer (by switching it off and then on again) before using this program, otherwise a “memory full” type error message may be returned. NOTES: A document file containing comprehensive details of how to use SPEECH in your own programs. Full instructions on editing the dictionary are included as is the facility to make a printed copy of the file. Note: It is advisable to reset the computer (by switching it off and then on again) before using this program, otherwise a “memory full” type error message may be returned. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── INTRODUCTION SPEECH (written by Rick Peterson) is a powerful speech synthesiser which requires no extra hardware whatsoever. It has an unlimited vocabulary, and is simplicity itself to use. For example, load in SPEECH by typing RUN “SPEECH” and then type in the following: |SAY, “I am a talking computer, as easy to use as 1 2 3”, and the computer speaks. You can use the |SPEAK command to directly access the 49 individual phonemes. The |SAY Command This command enables your computer to say English sentences. Simply type |SAY, followed by the sentence to be spoken enclosed in quotation marks. SPEECH recognises both upper and lower case. Adding a question mark to the end of a word pushes the pitch up (| SAY, “How are you?”) whereas adding a full stop pushes it down (|SAY, “I am so depressed.”). Pauses can be included by using spaces, commas or hyphens. The computer can also say the figures 0 to 9. SPEECH can even handle the following: |SAY, “Power mowers are thoroughly tough though.” SPEECH can be used indirectly. The following example illustrates how to do so: 10 |SAY, “What is your name?” 20 INPUT NAME$ 30 b$ = “Hello ” + NAME$ 40 |SAY,b$ Linguists say that the English language has approximately 200 rules for pronunciation and 2000 exceptions. Not surprisingly SPEECH cannot handle all these. To solve this, try altering the spelling of “difficult” words: e.g. chaos to cayos. The |SPEAK Command This command enables individual phonemes to be spoken. A list of the phonemes that may be used is included in these instructions. When a number is placed after a vowel sound (like “AE”) the pitch of the phoneme will change. The number can be in the range 1 to 9, where 1 is the lowest pitch and 9 is the highest (try |SPEAK, “WEH4LKAHM EH3VREEWON”). So stress and intonation can easily be added wherever desired. Again pauses can be included by using spaces, commas or hyphens. Question marks and full stops can also be used. The |PITCH Command This command is used to change the overall pitch of the voice. The format of the command is |PITCH,number. The pitch is normally set to PITCH9. |PITCH,1 sets the lowest pitch, whereas |PITCH,20 sets the highest. The |CENTRE, |LEFT, |RIGHT Commands The sound channel through which SPEECH operates can be set by the commands:— |CENTRE — sound through both channels, |LEFT — sound through left channel only, |RIGHT — sound through right channel only. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── TECHNICAL INFORMATION How to incorporate SPEECH into your own programs When you have written your BASIC program using the |SAY, |SPEAK, |PITCH commands as explained above, execute the following procedure: 1. Insert SPEECH disc into your computer. 2. Type CHAIN “SPEECH”,9999 and press RETURN. 3. The computer will give the message: INSERT DESTINATION DISC AND PRESS RETURN. Remove the SPEECH DISC and insert a new formatted disc to become the destination disc. 4. After pressing ENTER the SPEECH loader program will be “SAVED” and the message “INSERT SOURCE DISC AND PRESS ENTER” will appear. Remove the destination disc and insert the SPEECH disc into your disc drive. 5. The above messages will be displayed a further twice. Follow the instructions until the message “SPEECH HAS BEEN SAVED” appears. 6. At this point, press “E” followed by ENTER and your copy of SPEECH will be complete. 7. Next LOAD your own program (“OWNPROG”) into your computer. 8. SAVE “OWNPROG” onto the new disc. 9. Now turn your computer OFF and then ON again. 10. To use your program, now type RUN “SPEECH”. After this is complete then type RUN “OWNPROG”. 11. Your program will now load and then run automatically and your computer will speak when the program reaches a |SAY or |SPEAK command. Further technical information is available by loading the documentation file with RUN “NOTES”. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Forthcoming Amstrad titles from Superior Software Citadel: A superb adventure game with over 100 beautifully detailed screens. Repton 3: A strategic arcade-type game, the follow up to the immensely successful BBC Micro games, Repton 1 and Repton 2. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PHONEMES (49 in total) PHONEME ENGLISH |SPEAK PHONEME ENGLISH |SPEAK EXAMPLE EQUIV’ENT EXAMPLE EQUIV’ENT Vowel Sounds AY pale PAYL OW coat KOWT AE black BLAEK OO cot KOOT AA car KAAR UX coot KUXT AI fair FAIR OY voice VOYS AW now NAW EE meet MEET AO door DAOR EH get GEHT OH won WOHN ER perk PERK UW you YUW IY site SIYT UU put quiet “u” IX sit SIXT short “i” UH wood WUHD IH sit SIHT long “i” AH up AHP Consonants B bat BAET N nap NAEP D dab DAEB P pat PAET F fat FAET R rat RAET G gap GAEP S sat SAET /H hat /HAET T tap TAEP J jab JAEB V vat VAET K cat KAET W wag WAEG L lag LAEG Y yap YAEP M mat MAET Z zap ZAEP Special Sounds CH chair CHAIR CT fact FAECT DH this DHIXS DR dragon DRAEGUUN SH share SHAIR DUX duke DUXK TH thick THIHK NX sing SIHNX ZH azure AEZHAOR TR track TRAEK