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How the System Interprets Text/Email
Your system changes text messages and email into speech so you can listen to it. The system follows
certain rules to make these changes. Therefore, some parts of a text message or email message may
sound odd because of the way the system interprets it. The following list explains what things might sound
odd.
Acronyms and abbreviations
that use capital letters
The system normally pronounces words exactly as
they are spelled. The system also pronounces
acronyms as words. For example, for unicef, the
system says "UNICEF."
The system also pronounces many all-capital
abbreviations letter by letter. For example, for IBM,
the system says "I B M."
However, the system may inappropriately pronounce
some all-capital abbreviations as words. For
example, the abbreviation VAT stands for the value-
added tax typical of European countries. The system
reads this abbreviation as "vat," not "V A T."
If a period (.) appears before a space in an all-caps
abbreviation, the system ignores it. Thus, for V. A. T.,
the system says "V A T". If a period is followed by a
letter or number, the system says "period."
Other common abbreviations The system pronounces many common abbreviations
in their full form. For example, the system
pronounces Wed. as "Wednesday," Mr. as "Mister",
and Oct. as "October." It also pronounces re: as
"regarding."
However, some abbreviations may have more than
one interpretation. In these cases, the system may
pronounce the wrong interpretation. For example, Dr
could be "drive," "doctor," or "Denver." But the system
is sensitive to the context of the abbreviation. So if
the context is clear, the system usually uses the
correct interpretation.
Dates The system pronounces numbers written with two
single slashes (/) as dates. For example, the system
says "April tenth, 1996," if written as 04/10/96.
However, the system pronounces 04/10 (without the
year) as "four tenths." Also, the system doesn't
pronounce numbers with single dashes (-) as dates.
For example, the system says "4 dash 10 dash 96" if
written as 4-10-96.
Times The system pronounces numbers written with colons
as hours and minutes, including times that use the 24-
hour clock. For example, the system pronounces
10:23 as "ten twenty-three." The system also
recognizes and pronounces 24-hour-clock time.