iOS 7's Siri Can Learn How to Pronounce Names

Monday June 24, 2013 8:01 PM PDT by Husain Sumra
Shortly before today's iOS 7 Beta 2 was released, one of 9to5Mac's readers found that iOS 7's Siri has the ability to correct pronunciations for names.

siripronunciationImage via 9to5Mac

Previously, getting Siri to properly pronounce names required a user to edit the "phonetic name" for a contact and manually adjust the spelling until Siri pronounced the name the correct way. Now, as 9to5Mac notes, a user can simply say "pronounce [insert name here]" to put Siri through a simpler name pronunciation learning process.

Within that process, Siri will ask the user to pronounce the name and then present a couple of pronunciations based on how it heard the user. The user is then prompted to select a pronunciation, which Siri will from then on attempt to use when saying the name in question.

While the feature was in iOS 7 Beta 1, it's unknown at this point whether there have been improvements in the recently released Beta 2.

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BillyBobBongo
78 months ago

Previously, getting Siri to properly pronounce names required a user to edit the "phonetic name" for a contact and manually adjust the spelling until Siri pronounced the name the correct way. Now, as 9to5Mac notes, a user can simply say "pronounce [insert name here]" to put Siri through a simpler name pronunciation learning process.


You can do this in IOS6 too...


Sometimes it helps to read the article.
Rating: 12 Votes
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Gasu E.
78 months ago

Yes..

Siri has been learning a lot lately.. but she tends to mumble and sometimes she says off the wall things that don't make since.

Image (https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/995045_4324477810309_2011489989_n.jpg)


Oh, the irony!
Rating: 5 Votes
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negativzero
78 months ago
Siri totally fails at Asian names. This is going to be real useful when I go handsfree.
Rating: 4 Votes
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alia
78 months ago
This is great news! One reason Siri irks me is that she can't pronounce my name at all, and it grates.
Rating: 4 Votes
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caligomez
78 months ago
What Siri desperately needs is a way to differentiate one language from another without having to strictly accept one at a time. There are many bilingual countries (and users) that have have to constantly use different language words in the same sentence.
Rating: 4 Votes
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darijoe
78 months ago
Siri is becoming not so siri after all!
Rating: 2 Votes
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cRuNcHiE
78 months ago
You can do this in IOS6 too...

In the contact with 'My info' , edit and choose Add field. Then choose Phoenetic First name .

E.g I have put Krun Chee. Now Siri says my name right
Rating: 2 Votes
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Drunken Master
78 months ago

Right...


I live in Taiwan, trust me, 王 is 王.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Gasu E.
78 months ago

But it's pronounced "Wong."


Only if you're literate, or actually Chinese. In any case, we gweilo find WAng to be much funnier. :D

Of course, he could have said "message Dick."
Rating: 1 Votes
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MacDav
78 months ago

I live in Taiwan, trust me, 王 is 王.


I think your missing my joke...Wong when pronounced wrong sounds like the word wrong...Right?
Rating: 1 Votes
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