Spell function

Force letter-by-letter pronunciation of codes, IDs, and acronyms using the spell() function.

The spell() function works on Coda, Arcana, and the Mist family.

When to use spell()

Sometimes you want a letter or number sequence to be spelled out, one unit at a time. At Rime, we make this easy with our spell() function.

Using spell() natively introduces naturalistic pauses within the sequence. In particular, it groups numbers and letters into groups of three where possible, and two where necessary. For instance, a standard 10-digit telephone number is broken up as follows:

4 2 5 <pause> 2 5 2 <pause> 8 9 <pause> 2 9

The same holds for spelling sequences, like long words, being broken up as follows:

P E N <pause> E L O <pause> P E

We also introduce helpful pauses when transitioning between numbers and letters in mixed alphanumeric sequences, as follows:

P R M <pause> 4 2 3 <pause> G D D <pause> M L <pause> 2 3 <pause> 5 4

This holds for any number, letter, or alphanumeric string. They will be spelled out in full if included in the parentheses of spell(). Spell also works with common symbols like @ (at) or - (dash).

Let’s see how this works:

spell() applied to words

If I want the sentence to read:

“The name is spelled J O N, A T H, A N.”

Input: the name is spelled spell(jonathan).

Coda

{
   "speaker": "astra",
   "modelId": "coda",
   "text": "the name is spelled spell(jonathan)."
}

Arcana

{
   "speaker": "astra",
   "modelId": "arcana",
   "text": "the name is spelled spell(jonathan)."
}

Mist v3

{
   "speaker": "tibur",
   "modelId": "mistv3",
   "text": "the name is spelled spell(jonathan)."
}

spell() applied to numbers

For number sequences, if I want the sentence to read:

“The number is 4 2 5, 2 5 2, 8 9, 2 9.”

Input: the number is spell(4252528929).

Coda

{
   "speaker": "astra",
   "modelId": "coda",
   "text": "the number is spell(4252528929)."
}

Arcana

{
   "speaker": "astra",
   "modelId": "arcana",
   "text": "the number is spell(4252528929)."
}

Mist v3

{
   "speaker": "tibur",
   "modelId": "mistv3",
   "text": "the number is spell(4252528929)."
}

spell() applied to alphanumeric sequences

The same goes for mixed alphanumerics. If I want the sentence to be read:

the account is r f, 5 4 3, d c, 2

Input: the account is spell(rf543dc2).

Coda

{
   "speaker": "astra",
   "modelId": "coda",
   "text": "the account is spell(rf543dc2)."
}

Arcana

{
   "speaker": "astra",
   "modelId": "arcana",
   "text": "the account is spell(rf543dc2)."
}

Mist v3

{
   "speaker": "tibur",
   "modelId": "mistv3",
   "text": "the account is spell(rf543dc2)."
}

spell() applied to typographical symbols

Symbol	Pronunciation
@	at
_	underscore
-	dash
.	dot

Spell also works with common symbols. For example:

the email address is h e l p, at, r i m e, dot, a i

Input: the email address is spell([e-mail]).

Coda

{
   "speaker": "astra",
   "modelId": "coda",
   "text": "the email address is spell([e-mail])."
}

Arcana

{
   "speaker": "astra",
   "modelId": "arcana",
   "text": "the email address is spell([e-mail])."
}

Mist v3

{
   "speaker": "tibur",
   "modelId": "mistv3",
   "text": "the email address is spell([e-mail])."
}