Amazon’s renowned digital assistant Alexa is now capable of talking like human with emotions and different voice pitches. Also, the grammar of Alexa is now improvised with new SSML Tags. In a recent
blog, Amazon has announced that five new SSML tags have been added to Alexa.
Image Source: developer.amazon.com/blogs
The full form of SSML is “Speech Synthesis Markup Language”. With the help of SSML, developers can control the intonation, pronunciation, timing, and emotions of an Alexa device. In short, with SSML tags, now you can control how Alexa generates speech from your skill’s text responses.
As described by Amazon,
“You can add pauses, change pronunciation, spell out a word, add short audio snippets, and insert speechcons (special words and phrases) into your skill. These SSML features provide a more natural voice experience.”
Currently, these tags are launched for Alexa assistants in the US, UK, and Germany.
As per the official blog, here are the details of all five new SSML tags and how they can help.
1. Whispers – Convey a softer dialog with <amazon:effect name="whispered">.
2. Expletive beeps – Bleep out words with <say-as interpret-as="expletive">.
3. Sub – Use the <sub> tag when you want Alexa to say something other than what’s written.
4. Emphasis – Add <emphasis> to change the rate and volume at which Alexa speaks.
5. Prosody – Use this tag to control the volume, pitch, and rate of speech.
Image Source: github.com/alexa
Along with this, Amazon also launched an SSML based interactive
quiz game that will help you learn about assembling your skills and working with these new tags. For more information on how to use these tags, please visit the
official blog.