Pronunciation respelling means writing a word with ordinary letters the way it sounds, split into syllables, with the stressed syllable in capitals: Leicester becomes LES-ter. It's the fastest fix when an AI voice misreads a name, place or brand. Use the sound key below, then test your respelling in 5 copy-ready lines.
Key Takeaways
- Write sounds, not spelling. Split the word into syllables with hyphens and spell each one with the letters in the sound key.
- Mark the stress. Capitals show the stressed syllable. If a voice spells a capitalized syllable letter by letter, use lowercase and fix it with spelling.
- Use plain letters, not IPA. Unless your tool says it accepts IPA, a voice reading plain text has no reason to treat ə or ʊ as sounds.
- Check the real pronunciation first. Ask the person, check the company’s own video, or look the place up in a dictionary.
- Test in a full sentence. A word can sound right alone and wrong at the start or end of a line.
- Keep a clean script for captions. Respell only in the copy you paste into the voice tool, or save the word once as a custom pronunciation.
How to respell a word in 5 steps
- Find the right pronunciation. For a person, ask them. For a brand, listen to its own ads or videos. For a place, check a dictionary entry with audio.
- Say it slowly and count the syllables. Write one block per syllable and join them with hyphens: Spokane is spoh-kan.
- Spell each syllable with the key. Pick the letters from the sound key tabs below, so "ee" always means the vowel in "beat".
- Put the stressed syllable in capitals. Spokane becomes spoh-KAN. Only one syllable per word needs capitals.
- Test it in a sentence and listen. Fill in the test lines below, generate them, and adjust one syllable at a time until it sounds right.
The respelling cheat sheet
Choose a tab. The sound key is adapted from Wikipedia’s pronunciation respelling key, with “uh” in place of the schwa symbol (ə) so a text-to-speech voice reads it as a sound. Place-name pronunciations follow Merriam-Webster.
Vowel sounds
| Write | Sound as in | Example respelling |
|---|---|---|
| a | bat | Spokane → spoh-KAN |
| ah | father | spa → SPAH |
| ay | bait | Coeur d’Alene → kor-duh-LAYN |
| e (or eh) | bet | Leicester → LES-ter |
| ee | beat, happy | Boise → BOY-see |
| i (or ih) | bit | Poughkeepsie → puh-KIP-see |
| eye / y | item, sky | Cairo → KY-roh |
| o | bot | Gloucester → GLOS-ter |
| oh | boat | Spokane → spoh-KAN |
| oo | boot | Houston → HYOO-stuhn |
| uu | book | Worcester → WUUS-ter |
| aw | bought | Arkansas → AR-kuhn-saw |
| ow | bout | Moscow → MOS-kow |
| oy | boy | Illinois → il-uh-NOY |
| u / uh | but, about | Edinburgh → ED-in-bruh |
| er / ur | letter, bird | Southwark → SUTH-erk |
| ar | far | Arkansas → AR-kuhn-saw |
| or | horse | Norwich → NOR-ich |
Use “eh”, “ih” and “uh” at the end of a syllable, where a single “e”, “i” or “u” could be read as a different vowel.
Consonants and stress
| Write | Sound as in | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| ch | church | Use “tch” after a vowel in the same syllable |
| j | jive | Use “j”, never a soft “g” |
| g / gh | go, guess | Use “gh” before e, i or y so it can’t be read as “j” |
| s / ss | sigh | Use “ss” where a single “s” could be read as “z” |
| z | zoo | Write the “z” sound as “z”, even when the word spells it “s” |
| sh | shy | |
| zh | pleasure | Test it: not every voice reads “zh” the same way |
| th | thigh | |
| dh | this | If “dh” sounds odd in your voice, try “th” and listen |
| kh | loch | The throaty sound in Scottish “loch” |
| ng | ring | |
| y | you | ”y” before a vowel is the “you” sound |
Stress. Join syllables with hyphens and put the stressed syllable in capitals: “pronunciation” is pruh-NUN-see-AY-shuhn. If a voice spells a capitalized syllable as letters, write the whole word in lowercase and move the stress with spelling instead.
US place names
| Written | Respelling | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | AR-kuhn-saw | Not like “Kansas” |
| Illinois | il-uh-NOY | The final “s” is silent |
| Boise | BOY-see | Merriam-Webster also lists BOY-zee |
| Des Moines | dih-MOYN | Both “s” letters are silent |
| Spokane | spoh-KAN | Ends like “can”, not “cane” |
| Willamette | wuh-LAM-it | Stress on the second syllable |
| Poughkeepsie | puh-KIP-see | |
| Coeur d’Alene | kor-duh-LAYN | |
| Houston (Texas) | HYOO-stuhn | Starts like “Hugh” |
UK place names
| Written | Respelling | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Worcester | WUUS-ter | 2 syllables, not 3 |
| Leicester | LES-ter | 2 syllables, not 3 |
| Gloucester | GLOS-ter | 2 syllables, not 3 |
| Greenwich | GREN-ich | Merriam-Webster also lists GRIN-ij |
| Edinburgh | ED-in-bruh | Not “-burg” |
| Loughborough | LUF-bruh | ”Lough” sounds like “luff” |
| Southwark | SUTH-erk | ”th” as in “this” |
| Norwich | NOR-ich | The “w” is silent |
| Thames (London) | TEMZ | No “th” sound |
| Warwick | WORR-ik | The middle “w” is silent |
Same spelling, 2 sounds
A voice guesses these from the sentence and sometimes guesses wrong. Respell the word, or rewrite the line so only one reading fits.
| Written | Sound 1 | Sound 2 |
|---|---|---|
| read | REED (I read every day) | RED (I read it yesterday) |
| live | LIV (we live here) | LYVE (a live show) |
| lead | LEED (lead the team) | LED (a lead pipe) |
| record | REK-erd (a record) | rih-KORD (record a call) |
| present | PREZ-uhnt (a present) | prih-ZENT (present the plan) |
| close | KLOHZ (close the door) | KLOHSS (a close call) |
| tear | TAIR (tear the page) | TEER (a tear fell) |
| wind | WIND (the wind blew) | WYND (wind the clock) |
| minute | MIN-it (one minute) | my-NOOT (a minute detail) |
| bass | BAYSS (bass guitar) | BASS (the fish) |
Acronyms, numbers and symbols
| You want | Write it as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Letters said one by one | F B I, or F-B-I | Spaces or hyphens stop the voice reading it as a word |
| An acronym said as a word | Nasa, or NASA | Test both: some voices spell all-caps words |
| A year | twenty twenty-six | Removes any doubt between “2,026” and a year |
| A phone number | 8 0 0, 5 5 5, 0 1 2 3 | Commas add short pauses between groups |
| A date for US and UK listeners | October 12 | ”10/12” is October 12 in the US and 10 December in the UK |
| A big amount | 1.5 million dollars | Symbols and “M” are read in different ways |
| A website | kveeky dot com | Stops the voice reading “com” as a word |
| ”St.” | Street, or Saint | The voice can’t tell which one you mean |
Test your respelling in 5 lines
Type the word as it’s written and your respelling. The 5 lines below fill in as you type. Generate them together and listen for the word at the start, middle and end of a sentence.
Test lines
Start of a sentence
Middle of a sentence, phone greeting
End of a sentence, sponsor read
Possessive
Before and after, in one take
The last line plays the original spelling and your respelling one after the other, so you can hear whether the fix is needed at all.
Paste your test lines into Kveeky, pick a voice and listen. When a name sounds right, save it as a custom pronunciation so you don't respell it in every script.
Test your names freeWhen respelling isn’t enough
| Problem | Try this |
|---|---|
| The stress is on the wrong syllable | Change the vowel of the unstressed syllable to “uh”, then listen again |
| The voice spells out a capitalized syllable | Write the respelling in lowercase |
| The respelled word sounds like a different word | Change one letter, for example “ss” instead of “s” |
| The name still sounds rushed | Add a comma before it, or slow the whole line down slightly |
| The word is from another language | Use a voice for that language, or test a respelling with a native speaker |
| The script is also used for captions | Keep 2 copies: the clean script for captions and the respelled one for the voice |
For pauses and emphasis around a hard name, see our guide to making AI voices sound natural. For full phone menus, use the AI voice IVR and virtual receptionist scripts.
How Kveeky helps with names and brands
Hear your names said right
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See how teams use this in our e-learning voiceover page and podcast voiceover page, where names of people, products and places come up in every script. For sponsor reads with brand names, start from the podcast intro and outro script templates.
Before you generate the final audio
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation confirmed with the person, brand or a dictionary | A confident wrong name is worse than a pause |
| One stressed syllable per word, in capitals or by spelling | Stress changes how a name sounds more than any letter |
| Every respelling tested at the start, middle and end of a line | Position changes how a voice reads a word |
| Same-spelling words checked in context | ”Read” and “live” flip meaning with their sound |
| Acronyms, numbers and dates written the way they’re said | Symbols and formats are read in different ways |
| Captions use the clean spelling, not the respelling | Viewers should read the real name |
Frequently asked questions
What is pronunciation respelling?
Pronunciation respelling writes a word with ordinary letters the way it sounds, split into syllables, with the stressed syllable in capitals. For example, Leicester is respelled LES-ter and Spokane is spoh-KAN.
How do I make text to speech pronounce a name correctly?
Respell the name with plain letters, test it in a full sentence and adjust one syllable at a time. If your tool supports custom pronunciations, as Kveeky does, save the name once so every script uses it.
Should I use IPA symbols for an AI voice?
Only if your tool says it accepts IPA. Otherwise use ordinary letters, because a voice reading plain text has no reason to treat symbols such as ə or ʊ as sounds.
How do you pronounce Worcester, Leicester and Gloucester?
Merriam-Webster gives 2 syllables for each: Worcester is WUUS-ter, Leicester is LES-ter and Gloucester is GLOS-ter. The middle “ces” is not said in any of them.
Why does my AI voice spell out a capitalized syllable?
A voice can read a short all-caps block as an acronym. Write the respelling in lowercase and show the stress with spelling instead, for example “uh” in the unstressed syllables.
Sources
- Respelling conventions (hyphens between syllables, stressed syllable in capitals, letters for each sound): Wikipedia, “Help:Pronunciation respelling key”, retrieved 21 October 2026.
- US place-name pronunciations: Merriam-Webster entries for Arkansas, Illinois, Boise, Des Moines, Spokane, Willamette, Poughkeepsie, Coeur d’Alene and Houston, retrieved 21 October 2026.
- UK place-name pronunciations: Merriam-Webster entries for Worcester, Leicester, Gloucester, Greenwich, Edinburgh, Loughborough, Southwark, Norwich, Thames and Warwick, retrieved 21 October 2026.
- Other examples (Cairo, Moscow) and same-spelling words (read, live, lead, record, present, close, tear, wind, minute, bass): their Merriam-Webster dictionary entries, retrieved 21 October 2026.
- Kveeky free plan and commercial usage rights on paid plans: Kveeky pricing, retrieved 21 October 2026.