Using pronunciation dictionaries

Overview

Pronunciation dictionaries allow you to customize how your AI agent pronounces specific words or phrases. This is particularly useful for:

Correcting pronunciation of names, places, or technical terms
Ensuring consistent pronunciation across conversations
Customizing regional pronunciation variations

ElevenLabs supports both IPA and CMU alphabets.

Quickstart

Create a pronunciation dictionary file

In this example, we will create a pronunciation dictionary file for the word tomato.

This rule will use the "IPA" alphabet and update the pronunciation for tomato and Tomato with a different pronunciation. PLS files are case sensitive which is why we include it both with and without a capital "T".

dictionary.pls

dictionary.pls

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<lexicon version="1.0"
    xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/01/pronunciation-lexicon"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.w3.org/2005/01/pronunciation-lexicon
        http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/CR-pronunciation-lexicon-20071212/pls.xsd"
    alphabet="ipa" xml:lang="en-US">
<lexeme>
    <grapheme>tomato</grapheme>
    <phoneme>/tə'meɪtoʊ/</phoneme>
</lexeme>
<lexeme>
    <grapheme>Tomato</grapheme>
    <phoneme>/tə'meɪtoʊ/</phoneme>
</lexeme>
</lexicon>

Create a pronunciation dictionary from a file via the SDK

Create a new file named example.py or example.mts, depending on your language of choice and add the following code:

Python

from elevenlabs import ElevenLabs, PronunciationDictionaryVersionLocator
from elevenlabs.play import play

elevenlabs = ElevenLabs()

with open("dictionary.pls", "rb") as f:
    # this dictionary changes how tomato is pronounced
    pronunciation_dictionary = elevenlabs.pronunciation_dictionaries.create_from_file(
        file=f.read(), name="example"
    )

audio_1 = elevenlabs.text_to_speech.convert(
    text="Without the dictionary: tomato",
    voice_id="aMSt68OGf4xUZAnLpTU8",
    model_id="eleven_flash_v2",
)

audio_2 = elevenlabs.text_to_speech.convert(
    text="With the dictionary: tomato",
    voice_id="aMSt68OGf4xUZAnLpTU8",
    model_id="eleven_flash_v2",
    pronunciation_dictionary_locators=[
        PronunciationDictionaryVersionLocator(
            pronunciation_dictionary_id=pronunciation_dictionary.id,
            version_id=pronunciation_dictionary.version_id,
        )
    ],
)

# play the audio
play(audio_1)
play(audio_2)

TypeScript

import { ElevenLabsClient, play } from "@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js";
import "dotenv/config";
import fs from "node:fs";

const elevenlabs = new ElevenLabsClient();

const pronunciationDictionary = await elevenlabs.pronunciationDictionaries.createFromFile({
    file: fs.createReadStream("dictionary.pls"),
});

const audio1 = await elevenlabs.textToSpeech.convert("Without the dictionary: tomato", {
    voiceId: "aMSt68OGf4xUZAnLpTU8",
    modelId: "eleven_flash_v2",
});

const audio2 = await elevenlabs.textToSpeech.convert("With the dictionary: tomato", {
    voiceId: "aMSt68OGf4xUZAnLpTU8",
    modelId: "eleven_flash_v2",
    pronunciationDictionaryLocators: [
        {
            pronunciationDictionaryId: pronunciationDictionary.id,
            versionId: pronunciationDictionary.versionId,
        },
    ],
});

play(audio1);
play(audio2);

Execute the code

Python

python example.py

TypeScript

npx tsx example.mts

You should hear two versions of the audio playing through your speakers, one with and one without the pronunciation dictionary.

Search documentation

Help Center

Using pronunciation dictionaries

Overview

Quickstart

Create a pronunciation dictionary file

Create a pronunciation dictionary from a file via the SDK

Execute the code

Next steps

API reference

TTS streaming

Help Center