Text-to-Speech

Learn to work with TTS APIs, control multi-language output, manage emotions, use SSML markup, and build voice-enabled applications.

TTS API Basics

Modern TTS APIs follow a simple pattern: send text, receive audio. Here's the typical workflow:

1. Authentication: Obtain an API key from your chosen platform
2. Select voice: Choose from available voices or use a cloned voice ID
3. Configure settings: Set stability, similarity, speed, and other parameters
4. Send request: POST your text to the API endpoint
5. Receive audio: Get back audio data (MP3, WAV, or streaming chunks)

Multi-Language Support

Advanced TTS platforms support dozens of languages with natural pronunciation:

• Automatic detection: Many APIs automatically detect the language of input text
• Cross-lingual voices: Some voices can speak multiple languages while maintaining their identity
• Accent control: Specify accents within languages (British English, American English, Australian English)
• Code-switching: Handle text that mixes languages within the same sentence
• Pronunciation guides: Use IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) for precise pronunciation control

Emotion and Style Control

Control how the AI voice delivers text emotionally:

SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language)

SSML gives you fine-grained control over speech output using XML-like tags:

• <break>: Insert pauses of specific duration — <break time="500ms"/>
• <emphasis>: Stress specific words — <emphasis level="strong">important</emphasis>
• <prosody>: Control rate, pitch, and volume — <prosody rate="slow">text</prosody>
• <say-as>: Specify how to interpret text — <say-as interpret-as="date">2026-03-15</say-as>
• <phoneme>: Provide exact pronunciation — <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="təmeɪtoʊ">tomato</phoneme>
• <sub>: Substitute pronunciation — <sub alias="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</sub>

Building Voice Applications