JSPM

Alexa Speechlet

Speech Synthesis Markup generator that makes it easy to do all the things

To install: npm install alexa-speechlet --save

example usage

const Speechlet = require("alexa-speechlet");

// the constructor can accept text on initialization
let speech = new Speechlet("Hi my name is Alexa.");
// speechlet supports chaining function calls
let ssml = speech.sentence("I have a secret to tell you")
                  .whisper("I'm not a real human")
                  .output();
// output:
// Hi my name is Alexa.<s>I have a secret to tell you</s><amazon:effect name="whispered">I'm not a real human</amazon:effect>

// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

Remember to call output()

You must execute the output() method on the speechlet instance in order to get the markup string. output() will not wrap the output in <speak></speak> nodes. If you are working with alexa-sdk the sdk will do that for you in the final output. If you, however, do want the output markup to be wrapped with the 'speak' nodes then you can use outputWithRootNode(),

Methods

say(text)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says

Adds text to the markup without adding anything. It will spit out exactly what you enter as is. This is useful for generating complex nested markup that you cannot achieve through the other methods.

let simpleSpeech = new Speechlet();
let simpleSSML = simpleSpeech.say("Hi. This is a simple sentence.").output();

// simpleSSML outputs
// Hi. This is a simple sentence.

let complexSpeech = new Speechlet();
let complexSSML = complexSpeech.say('<s>When <emphasis level="strong">I</emphasis> wake up, <prosody rate="x-slow">I speak quite slowly</prosody></s>').output();
// complexSSML outputs
// <s>When <emphasis level="strong">I</emphasis> wake up, <prosody rate="x-slow">I speak quite slowly</prosody></s>

sentence(text)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says

Wraps your text with <s></s> tags.

let ssml = new Speechlet().sentence("Hi, my name is Alexa").output();
// outputs:
// <s>Hi, my name is Alexa</s>

// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

sayAs(text, options)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says
• options | {Object}
  • options.interpretAs adds 'interpret-as' attr to the markup. Such as <say-as interpret-as="spell-out">

Wraps your text with <say-as> tags

let ssml = new Speechlet("I can count.").pause().sayAs("12345", {interpretAs: "digits"}).output();
// outputs:
// I can count.<break strength="strong" /><say-as interpret-as="digits">12345</say-as>

We also expose convenience methods for the sayAs method for each interpretation. For instance instead of calling speechlet.sayAs("12345", {interpretAs: "digits"}); you can do speechlet.sayAsDigits("12345");.

We do this for the following interpretations:

• characters
• spell-out
• cardinal
• ordinal
• digits
• fraction
• unit
• date
• time
• telephone
• address
• interjection (Useful for speechcons Bazinga!)

Note: The convenience fn are named sayAs + the capitalized version of the interpretation with dashes removed. So the convenience fn for "spell-out" would be sayAsSpellout(text)

See here for the Alexa documentation for say-as. If I am missing anything feel free to make a PR.

sayAsDate(text, format)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says
• format | {String} - The format of the date Alexa will read it as. For example "mdy". Read the Alexa docs for explanation

Convenience for sayAs(text, {interpretAs: "date", format: "mdy"}). sayAsDate accepts an extra "format" param.

let ssml = new Speechlet().sayAsDate("September 22, 2015", "mdy").output();
// outputs:
// <say-as interpret-as="date" format="mdy">September 22, 2015</say-as>
// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

amazonEffect(text, options)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says
• options | {Object}
  • options.name - The name of the effect. eg. "whispered"

Wraps text with <amazon:effect> tags. Applies Amazon-specific effects to the speech.

let speech = new Speechlet();
let ssml = speech.amazonEffect("I'm going to whisper this.", { name: "whispered" }).output();

// outputs:
// <amazon:effect name="whispered">I'm going to whisper this.</amazon:effect>
// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

whisper(text)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says

Convenience fn for amazonEffect(text, { name: "whispered" }). Applies a whisper to the markup.

let speech = new Speechlet();
let ssml = speech.whisper("I'm going to whisper this.").output();

// outputs:
// <amazon:effect name="whispered">I'm going to whisper this.</amazon:effect>
// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

prosody(text, options)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says
• options | {Object}
  • options.rate - Modify the rate of the speech. eg. "x-slow", "slow", "fast", "80%"
  • options.pitch - Raise or lower the tone (pitch) of the speech. eg "high", "x-high", "low", "-50%""
  • options.volume - Change the volume for the speech. eg. "silent", "high", "loud", "+4.08dB"

Modifies the volume, pitch, and rate of the tagged speech.

let speech = new Speechlet();
let ssml = speech.say("I'm going to say this really loud. Are you ready?")
                 .pause('1s')
                 .prosody("AAHHH", { volume: "x-loud" });
                 .output();

// outputs:
// I'm going to say this really loud. Are you ready?<break time="1s" /><prosody volume="x-loud">AAHHH</prosody>
// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

phoneme(text, options)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says
• options | {Object}
  • options.alphabet - Set to the phonetic alphabet to use eg. "ipa" or "x-sampa"
  • options.ph - The phonetic pronunciation to speak. eg. "pɪˈkɑːn" for the word "pecan"

Wraps text in <phoneme> tags. See docs on phonemes and supported symbols here. Phonemes provides a phonemic/phonetic pronunciation for the contained text. For example, people may pronounce words like “pecan” differently.

let speech = new Speechlet();
let ssml = speech.say("You say, ")
                 .phoneme("pecan", { alphabet: "ipa", ph="pɪˈkɑːn" })
                 .say(".I say, ")
                 .phoneme("pecan", { alphabet: "ipa", ph="ˈpi.kæn" });
                 .output();

// outputs:
// You say, <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="pɪˈkɑːn">pecan</phoneme>.I say, <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="ˈpi.kæn">pecan</phoneme>.
// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

break(options)

• options | {Object}
  • options.strength - "none", "x-weak", "weak", "medium", "strong", "x-strong"
  • options.time - Duration of the pause; up to 10 seconds (10s) or 10000 milliseconds (10000ms). Include the unit with the time (s or ms). Represents a pause in the speech. Set the length of the pause with the strength or time attributes.

let speech = new Speechlet();
let ssml = speech.say("Let's see here")
  .break({ strength: "x-strong" })
  .say("Oh here it is")
  .output();

// outputs:
// Let's see here<break strength="x-strong">Oh here it is
// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

emphasis(text, options)

• text | {String} - What Alexa says
• options | {Object} options.level - "strong", "moderate", "reduced"

Wraps the text with <emphasis> tags. Emphasize the tagged words or phrases. Emphasis changes rate and volume of the speech. More emphasis is spoken louder and slower. Less emphasis is quieter and faster. See docs

let speech = new Speechlet();
let ssml = speech.say("I already told you I")
                 .emphasis("really like", { level: "strong" })
                 .say("that person")
                 .output();

// outputs:
// I already told you I<emphasis level="strong">really like</emphasis>that person
// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);

pause(time="0.8s")

• time | {String} - The time value you want to pause. Defaults to "0.8s"

Convenience method for break. Adds <break> markup to your text with a time value. If you want more flexibility, use the break() fn. Represents a pause in the speech. Set the length of the pause with the time attribute.

let speech = new Speechlet();
let ssml = speech.say("Hmm let me think for a sec")
                 .pause("3s")
                 .say("Ok I think I figured it out")
                 .output();

// outputs:
// Hmm let me think for a sec<break time="3s">Ok I think I figured it out
// then emit with alexa-sdk
// this.emit(':tell', ssml);