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Pronunciation issue

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by histrion Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:14 pm

I frequently drive on a "Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd." Unfortunately, instead of pronouncing this as "Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard," Waze pronounces it as "Drive Martin Luther King Jay-Arr Boulevard." Which is amusing

, but given how common MLK street names are in the US, it seems like the sort of thing that should be fixed. Changing the street name to "Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Blvd" would presumably work, but would be unsightly to look at.

Is there any way in the map editor to specify the pronunciation of a name? Or would it be better to make the pronunciation algorithm smarter?

histrion: Posts: 10

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Re: Pronunciation issue

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by AndyPoms Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:24 pm

There currently isn't a way to change the pronunciation / translation (i.e. Dr = Doctor or Drive) in the TTS (Text To Speech) system. We're working on building a list of what needs to be tested, fixed (i.e. Dr = Drive & Dr. = Doctor / St = Street & St. = Saint), etc over at viewtopic.php?f=10&t=15178

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Re: Pronunciation issue

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by histrion Fri Dec 28, 2012 3:10 pm

Okay, excellent. I've changed the name of those sections of the street I can edit to "Dr." and "Jr." and put in a request for a level-4 editor to do the ones I can't. Thanks very much!

histrion: Posts: 10

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Re: Pronunciation issue

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by jcluth Fri Jun 14, 2013 5:33 pm

histrion wrote:I frequently drive on a "Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd." Unfortunately, instead of pronouncing this as "Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard," Waze pronounces it as "Drive Martin Luther King Jay-Arr Boulevard." Which is amusing , but given how common MLK street names are in the US, it seems like the sort of thing that should be fixed. Changing the street name to "Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Blvd" would presumably work, but would be unsightly to look at.

Is there any way in the map editor to specify the pronunciation of a name? Or would it be better to make the pronunciation algorithm smarter?

It's not just Dr and Jr, it's whole pronunciations in places. The city of Reading, PA is pronounced the same as Redding, CA, not as if you are reading a book. Yet Waze always tells me to take US-222 to Reading [a book]. There needs to be a way to independently adjust the pronunciation versus the display text.