Synthesiser transforms text into spoken Maltese
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning inaugurated the first speech synthesiser which transforms electronic text into spoken Maltese.
The launch took place at the Mita offices.
For the past three years, Crimsonwing – a company originally established in the UK – developed the synthesiser that produces spoken Maltese by converting Maltese electronic text to speech audio
The project, funded by the EU and the government, was initiated by the Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility (Fita) and the work was carried out entirely in Malta by a consortium of Maltese entities.
It was released in July and inaugurated this morning. People can now download it for free from www.maltesespeech.com
Mita and Fita chairman Godwin Grima said the speech engine will help illiterate people, others with mobility difficulties, blind people, and those who have dyslexia.
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11 Comments
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Mario Mizzi
Nov 8th 2012, 22:36
Tried the on line speech engine demo as per link:
http://www.fitamalta.eu/projects/maltese-speech-engine-synthesis-erdf-114/mse-demo/
I inputed the following words: AHJAR XIH U GHAREF MILLI ZAGHZUGH U IBLEH
Will leave it to other viewers to judge.
FITA Malta
Nov 9th 2012, 13:55
Have you tried Aħjar xiħ u għaref .... using proper Maltese characters?
User input can be provided via the the feedback form at http://www.fitamalta.eu/projects/maltese-speech-engine-synthesis-erdf-114/ This will be used to continue to improve the product.
Christian Sciberras
Nov 8th 2012, 17:13
It is worth noting that there have been previous projects with the same scope and various degrees of success.
But I suppose this one is somehow more important because of the politics behind it.
Mike Hunt
Nov 8th 2012, 15:54
Awesome stepping stone in building tools to preserve the phonetics of dying dialects that serve no current or future purpose.
Chris Coleiro
Nov 8th 2012, 16:30
Are you saying that Maltese has "no current or future purpose"?
Mike Hunt
Nov 8th 2012, 17:00
@Chris Coleiro - What is the point in furthering this odd fantasy of creating a Maltese language? And as if it wasn't artificial enough as it is the more time goes by the more oddities I see people come up with like mowbajl and lejber.
Mark Anthony Fenech
Nov 8th 2012, 20:07
The Maltese language already exists Mr Hunt and as with all languages it evolves. English has imported much words from foreign languages, all languages do and Maltese is no exception.
Mark Camenzuli
Nov 8th 2012, 23:56
I strongly disagree with you Mr Hunt. Maltese serves as a means of communication between its people and also gives us one true identity: that of being called Maltese. Also a language is as strong as the individuals who opt to speak it, and it is only when the people choose to stop using it altogether, that one can regard a language dead. I believe that this is not the present case in Malta.
Saviour Sam Agius
Nov 9th 2012, 08:56
Is your purpose in life to ridicule others?
Moira Heath
Nov 8th 2012, 15:38
Well done guys! Your hard work is now paying off.
Gilbert Busuttil
Nov 8th 2012, 14:43
WELL DONE Crimsonwing.
Please choose the reason of your report below: