Speech

 

I was wondering whether, whilst in the USA, I should use a voice associated with the USA maps. I am using the English (female) voice at the moment and she has problems with some of the city and town names in the US. Are voices and speech optimized for various regions?

Different Accents and Emphasis

The various voices are real people from different countries. So they will naturally have different inflection in their tone and emphasize different parts of the same words.

Of course, every word is not pre-recorded and it seems that the speech unit attempts to pronounce unusual or uncommon words phonetically. This makes for some humourous pronunciations - especially when trying to pronounce "foreign" words. In the Las Vegas there are a lot of Spanish street names, and the GPS would really butcher them. For example, it kept saying what sounded like "alien tea" for Aliante.

Terminology

I have not checked against other languages but Emily refers to a "traffic circle" as a "roundabout". If the American voices using domestic terminology then some features may be alien to someone switching to a domestic voice. Of course, up in Massachusetts, "traffic circles" are called "rotaries", which adds to the confusion!

--
I support the right to keep and arm bears.

There are some minor differences

other than dialect. I've noticed a couple of differences on my 885T, but I am sure there are others (what I've found are not related pronunciation). The British English voice refers to ramps as slip roads. With the three digit interstate branches, the Australian English voice states the name completely; Eye-Six-Hundred-Ninety-Six as opposed to the American English counter parts Eye-Six-Ninety-Six.

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Keep in mind that if you like the sound of a certain voice you can always change the terminology using TTSVoiceEditor

http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/TTSVoiceEditor

I call them traffic nightmare

Aardvark wrote:

I have not checked against other languages but Emily refers to a "traffic circle" as a "roundabout". If the American voices using domestic terminology then some features may be alien to someone switching to a domestic voice. Of course, up in Massachusetts, "traffic circles" are called "rotaries", which adds to the confusion!

I knew them in Philly as traffic circle, in central Florida they are called roundabout

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Garmin 38 - Magellan Gold - Garmin Yellow eTrex - Nuvi 260 - Nuvi 2460LMT - Google Nexus 7 - Toyota Entune NAV

Thought this was interesting

From Wikipedia

"A roundabout is a type of circular junction in which road traffic must travel in one direction around a central island. Signs usually direct traffic entering the circle to slow down and give the right of way to drivers already in the circle.[1]

These junctions are sometimes called modern roundabouts in order to emphasise the distinction from older circular junction types which had different design characteristics and rules of operation. Older designs, called traffic circles or rotaries, are typically larger, operate at higher speeds, and often give priority to entering traffic[1]. In some cases, the term "traffic circle" has been used to describe roundabouts in North America,[2] but generally "roundabout" is used by engineers.[3]

In countries where people drive on the right, the traffic flow around the central island of a roundabout is anticlockwise (counterclockwise). In countries where people drive on the left, the traffic flow is clockwise.

Statistically, roundabouts are safer for drivers and pedestrians than both traffic circles and traditional intersections.[4] Because low speeds are required for traffic entering roundabouts they are not designed for high-speed motorways (expressways). When such roads are redesigned to take advantage of roundabout principles, steps are taken to reduce the speed of traffic, such as curving the approaches."

@flaco

flaco wrote:
Aardvark wrote:

I have not checked against other languages but Emily refers to a "traffic circle" as a "roundabout". If the American voices using domestic terminology then some features may be alien to someone switching to a domestic voice. Of course, up in Massachusetts, "traffic circles" are called "rotaries", which adds to the confusion!

I knew them in Philly as traffic circle, in central Florida they are called roundabout

Been a while back.Believe in Clearwater.Remember the roundabout that the person drove into the water in the center laugh out loud

--
Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

MUTCD

# Circular Intersection—an intersection that has an island, generally circular in design, located in the center of the intersection where traffic passes to the right of the island. Circular intersections include roundabouts, rotaries, and traffic circles.

Different nomenclature

In California we have "roundabouts". No matter what you call them I hate the damn things.

If I use American Jack or Jill we have "off ramps" from the freeway. If I use British or Australian voice files they're called "slip roads". (Others may be asking, "What the heck is a freeway?")

It's nothing new. In America we have a "trunk" in the car. Britain has a "boot". America has a "hood" over the engine. Other places have a "bonnet". When I go to the grocery store I use a "cart'" Elsewhere they use a "trolley". In the USA we call the ground (street level) floor of a building the 1st floor. In other places the 1st floor is the one just above the ground (street level) floor.

I think one of the best I have heard is when my cousin and her husband bicycled through Australia. Her husband kept asking her to hand him his "fanny pack". People goggled at him. Finally one woman told them that, "Here in Australia, we call it a 'bum bag'". They thought, "Hmmmmmm.... Ok. No big deal" and he kept calling it a "fanny pack". "Honey, can you grab my wallet from my fanny pack?" seemed perfectly fine to him.

Finally, after many (MANY, MANY, MANY) weird looks, someone took them aside and said that, in Australia, the word "fanny" meant "v****a. (Count the letters and think of female anatomy. I'd spell it out but don't know how it would go over here.)

After that, they both referred to the item as a "bum bag" and fit right in.

Language varies from place to place. Some places they can "knock you up" when they knock on the door. Other places that means they got you pregnant.

If we were all the same it would be terribly boring - especially if everybody was like me. (Of course I'm the one who has everything figured out correctly but don't tell the rest of the world.)

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GPSMAP 76CSx - nüvi 760 - nüvi 200 - GPSMAP 78S

Sounds

Interesting. I thought things like "slip road" and "ramp" and "roundabout" would be part of the map package rather than dependent upon the the voice selected. Sounds like it is time to download a few more voices to compare.

Love the....

busdriver330 wrote:

I was wondering whether, whilst in the USA, I should use a voice associated with the USA maps. I am using the English (female) voice at the moment and she has problems with some of the city and town names in the US. Are voices and speech optimized for various regions?

female british voice..sexy, I still have to get used to a: sliproad!"

--
"Backward, turn backward, oh time in your flight, make me a child again, just for tonight."

Now imagine other languages...

For example a voice for France, and another one for french-speaking Canada... Now that could get hilarious, I've heard so many such jokes between the French idioms and the Belgian ones !

Alas, I've yet to find as many voices in French, as there are for English speakers sad

Oh well, I guess I can learn English ?

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Ain't nuthin' never just right to do the things you wanna do when you wanna do them, so you best just go ahead and do them anyway ! (Rancid Crabtree, from Pat F McManus fame)

TTS

GadgetGuy2008 wrote:

Keep in mind that if you like the sound of a certain voice you can always change the terminology using TTSVoiceEditor

http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/TTSVoiceEditor

Thanks. I want to try this. Does it require a lot of time to make the changes?

Not at all

bsp131 wrote:

Thanks. I want to try this. Does it require a lot of time to make the changes?

It's quick and simple, try it and let us know if you encounter any problems.

Have fun smile

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Nüvi 255WT with nüMaps Lifetime North America born on 602117815 / Nüvi 3597LMTHD born on 805972514 / I love Friday’s except when I’m on holidays ~ canuk

Roundabouts in Canada

Aardvark wrote:

I have not checked against other languages but Emily refers to a "traffic circle" as a "roundabout". If the American voices using domestic terminology then some features may be alien to someone switching to a domestic voice. Of course, up in Massachusetts, "traffic circles" are called "rotaries", which adds to the confusion!

They're called roundabouts in Canada. Better get used to them, because they're coming to a road near you.

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DriveSmart 65, NUVI2555LMT, (NUVI350 is Now Retired)

We have two that will be

We have two that will be ready in a couple weeks on the same road @ a block apart. Our body shop at the dealer I work at might have to hire some more people surprised surprised

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All the worlds indeed a stage and we are merely players. Rush