Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread: espeak options

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Beans
    33

    Post espeak options

    Hello lovely GNU/Linux users!

    I have been wondering how to change some options in espeak. I found out about command:
    Code:
    espeak -h
    , that allows me to see list of options. That' s ok, but I need to change some of them, if it is possible.
    If someone knows how to solve this, I would be grateful.
    Last edited by kom333; June 23rd, 2013 at 10:06 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    52.5° N 6.4° E
    Beans
    6,806
    Distro
    Xubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

    Re: espaek options

    Just add them on the command line, like you added the -h option. For example, to pronounce the file "example.txt" at slow speed and save the result as "example.wav", give the command
    Code:
    espeak -f example.txt -s 120 -w example.wav
    These options work the same way in almost all programs.
    Last edited by Impavidus; June 16th, 2013 at 02:17 PM. Reason: Replaced "story" by "example"

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Beans
    33

    Re: espaek options

    Impavidus, I tried what you said and I got message in terminal:" Failed to read file 'story.txt' ". So questions are what is that story.txt and where is located?
    And I think you didn't understand me completely...All I want is to speed down pronunciation and language, if possible.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    52.5° N 6.4° E
    Beans
    6,806
    Distro
    Xubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

    Re: espaek options

    The filename story.txt was just an example. I shall make it clearer in my previous post.

    You can use the command
    Code:
    espeak --voices
    to get a list of voices. Each voice is made for a specific language. In my case the output starts with
    Code:
    Pty Language Age/Gender VoiceName       File        Other Langs
     5  af             M  afrikaans         af          
     5  bg                bulgarian-test    bg          
     5  bs             M  bosnian           bs          
     5  ca             M  catalan           ca          
     5  cs             M  czech             cs          
     5  cy             M  welsh-test        cy          
     5  da             M  danish            da          
     5  de             M  german            de          
    (...)
    Find the language you want (for some languages there are a few variants) and then use the voice name on the command line. With the -s option you can set the speed in words/minute. For example, if you want to pronounce the file example.txt at 120 words/minute and it contains german text, use
    Code:
    espeak -f example.txt -s 120 -v german
    Substitute the values you want. Also note that you don't have to supply a file name, as there are other ways to provide the text you want pronounced.

    Alternatively, if you are uncomfortable with the command line (and I get the impression you are), you can install gespeaker, which is a program available in the software centre. It's a graphical front end to espeak, where you can change the settings you want with sliders and menus. It may be better suited to your experience.
    Last edited by Impavidus; June 16th, 2013 at 02:25 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Beans
    33

    Re: espaek options

    F*ck! I didn't read your post carefully and now i look like a fool in your eyes. i just copied the code that you gave me and pasted it in terminal.
    To me, CLI is better than GUI and i prefer it

    So you are telling me i must make .txt file and save it somewhere and then open it in espeak, right?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    52.5° N 6.4° E
    Beans
    6,806
    Distro
    Xubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

    Re: espaek options

    Can happen.

    espeak accepts text from a file, from the command line or from standard input (which may be a pipe):
    Code:
    #From file:
    espeak -f example.txt <other options>
    #From the comand line
    espeak <other options> "Text to be pronounced"
    #From a pipe
    command_that_writes_text | espeak --stdin <other options>
    #From stdin
    espeak --stdin <other options>
    Now type the text or paste it to the terminal.
    Close with ctrl-d on an empty line
    espeak also knows how to handle html files, in case you're dealing with those. I don't know where the text you're dealing with comes from.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Disclosed location
    Beans
    75
    Distro
    Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander

    Re: espaek options

    Hello bros...umm does that apply for text in .pdf format?
    Just curious.

    My regards. Stay sharp. Especially you kom333
    Avoid the Gates of Hell. Use Linux.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Beans
    33

    Re: espeak options

    Well, Impavidus thank you. You helped me a lot

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Courtenay, BC, Canada
    Beans
    1,661

    Re: espeak options

    espeak also accepts text entered as an unswitched variable as input, i.e.
    Code:
    espeak -v en-uk 'this is some speech. I am very smart.'
    notice how in my example, I gave the language name (en-uk) instead of the voice name (english)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    52.5° N 6.4° E
    Beans
    6,806
    Distro
    Xubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

    Re: espaek options

    Quote Originally Posted by LinuxUser666 View Post
    Hello bros...umm does that apply for text in .pdf format?
    Just curious.

    My regards. Stay sharp. Especially you kom333
    Manual says plain text and html. I would be surprised if they ever include support for pdf, except when using a pdf to html converter as a filter. Html contains text with a logical structure, from which your web browser generates the visual structure that humans, but not computers, can easely recognise. Pdf contains visual structure, from which it's very difficult to reconstruct logical structure if you're not human. To be able to emphasise the right words, put in the right pauses, skip footnotes et cetera you need to understand the logical structure of the text.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •