Irish language promotion website Abair.ie has added a second dialect to its translation system.
Abair.ie turns Irish written text into the spoken word, initially used a female synthetic voice speaking with an Ulster dialect. The new male voice, speaks with a synthsised Connaught dialect. Similar work is underway on a Munster voice.
The project has been developed as a result of research at the Phonetics and Speech Lab at the Centre for Language and Communication Studies in Trinity College Dublin. The developers obtained funding from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which will guarantee the continuation of the project for the next three years. Backers include COGG, Foras na Gaeilge and the EU.
In a white paper published by European research body META-NET entitled The Irish Language in the Digital Age, Irish was mentioned as one of the languages which was in danger of extinction because of its lack of support in technology.
To date, individuals have used the system to hear words or phrases being pronounced. The further development of the project can now offer support in areas such as access for the visually or vocally impaired and general Irish language education.
Aside from its dialect-specific text-to-speech function, abair.ie also features include games, interactive talking books, dictionaries that speak out words and phrases in a choice of dialect and screen readers incorporating synthesised voices for those with visual impairments. There is also a mobile presence through Android and iOS apps.
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