WO2009092139A1

WO2009092139A1 - A transliteration and pronunciation system

Info

Publication number: WO2009092139A1
Application number: PCT/AU2009/000077
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joseph Mamone
Original assignee: Mamone Joseph
Priority date: 2008-01-24
Filing date: 2009-01-23
Publication date: 2009-07-30

Abstract

A transliteration system for converting primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text in coloured text letters or letter groups, at least some of the coloured text having letter identifiers to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the primary alphabet.

Description

A TRANSLITERATION AND PRONUNCIATION SYSTEM Field of the Invention.

The present invention relates to speech and comprehension and particularly to a system for converting printed primary text in a first alphabet in two transliteration text in a second, coded alphabet in order to make the text easy to read.

Background Art.

Today, of all of the languages which use characters to represent the written form, the English language is the most irregular with respect to the manner in which sound or speech is associated with a word and to the letter components with the word, causing difficulty when converting text for reading or speech. Consider the rules applied to read words such as:

Bat or Cat or Sat

In the above examples, the letter "A" is a particular "a" sound which is completely different to the "a" sound in the word "water" for example, in which, the letter "A" has more of an "or" sound. Indeed, the letter "A" can have up to ten different sounds and may actually have more than one sound when used.

English has the added complexity of sounding very different when spoken in different accents.

The complexity and irregularities associated with English in particular mean that it is a very difficult language to learn. This difficulty is exacerbated when the language is used or learnt by foreigners with English as a second language.

With the advent of the Internet as a communications means, many websites are in English leading to particular difficulties for non-English speakers to fully utilize or access the site. _^ It would therefore be an advance in the art to provide a system whereby printed primary text can be transliterated into coded text to enable pronunciation of the printed primary text in the language of the primary text.

It will be clearly understood that if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.

Summary of the Invention.

The present invention is directed to a transliteration and pronunciation system which may at least partially overcome at least one of the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

With the foregoing in view, the present invention in one form, resides broadly in A transliteration system for converting primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text in coloured text letters or letter groups, at least some of the coloured text having letter identifiers to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the primary alphabet..

The present invention in a more particular form, resides broadly in a transliteration system for converting primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text wherein the transliterated text is displayed in the primary alphabet using coloured letters or letter groups with letter identifiers to enable pronunciation of the letters or letter groups within word in the primary text in the language of the primary alphabet whilst preserving the letters in the primary text.

In a more particular form, the invention resides in a transliteration engine for use in conjunction with computer displayed text for converting printed primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text in a secondary, coded alphabet wherein the secondary coded alphabet displays the text in coloured text with letter identifiers to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the primary alphabet whilst preserving the letters in the primary text.

The system of the present invention is based around a sound-to-letter association key which can be used to convert simple monochromatic printed text and international phonetic symbols into a coloured and coded format allowing a user to pronounce the words represented in the monochromatic printed text or international phonetic symbols more simply. According to a preferred embodiment, each letter (or letter group) in a word will normally be provided in a colour or shade dependent upon the pronunciation of the letter or letter group, with the colour of the letters or letter groups being indicative of either a vowel sound, a consonant sound, a sound switch consonant, or a silent letter.

The colour or shade of the letters or letter groups in the transliterated text will preferably allow the user to identify whether the sound of that letter or letter group is a vowel sound, a simple consonant sound, a complex consonant sound or no sound as the letter or letter group is silent. The system of the present invention, by providing transliterated text with pronunciation cues rather than ambiguous phonetic information, is capable of providing user with the ability to speak accented language. For example, where the system is configured to use Australian English, a transliterated word may include a vowel and consonant groups having a first set of pronunciation descriptors and the same word went transliterated using a system configured to use American English may provide that word with a second, different set of pronunciation descriptors according to the pronunciation of the component parts in the target language.

The colours may typically be embodied in the following manner: 1. a magenta vowel with appropriate superscript represents one of 22 separate vowel sounds; 2. a black consonant is sounded phonetically or a "simple" consonant sound;

3. a blue consonant letter or letter group is provided with an appropriate superscript illustrating the phonetic sound made by the blue consonant letter or letter group or a "complex" consonant sound; and

4. yellow letters and word endings are not sounded. Irrespective of which four colours are used, the present invention primarily differentiates between a vowel sound, a simple consonant sound, a complex consonant sound or no sound, graphically in the first instance. The system may allow pronunciation of the words primary text in an accented manner in the language of the primary text. The system may be based upon a user reading the transliterated text and pronouncing the words based on phonetics rather than language-specific pronunciation rules, but representing the transliterated text in the primary alphabet, not the phonetic symbol alphabet.

The first or primary alphabet may be an alphabet from any language but will typically be either English or the international phonetic alphabet. Typically, the second alphabet reproduces the letters or symbols of the printed primary text and adjusts each letter or letter group into a particular colour as outlined above. The letter or letter group will also typically be provided with a pronunciation code to be used as a guide for pronunciation, particularly the vowels or its consonant letters or letter groupings which have particular phonetic sounds. Therefore, the system of the present invention is not a translation system as the transliterated text will preferably appear in the same alphabet as the primary text, thereby preserving the language of the primary text. The transliterated text will simply have letter or letter groups represented in colour for identification purposes and where appropriate, have pronunciation descriptors added, normally as a superscript or centrally above the letter or letter group. Normally, pronunciation descriptors will be used for vowel sounds and complex consonant sounds but not for silent letters or letter groups nor simple consonant sounds. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the system will typically include an activation button located on a toolbar in either a computer program or more preferably, an Internet browser interface which will typically activate or perform the transliteration of the primary text into the secondary coded text. The activation button will typically be a shortcut to a program which will perform the transliteration and thereby alter the displayed text.

Toggling the activation button will normally toggle between the primary and transliterated text.

The system therefore will typically be embodied in a method for transforming text in a primary alphabet into a secondary alphabet and a computer program or the like which will typically run on one or more computers which will perform the method.

The system of the present invention will typically involve a computer program or media operating in one of two main ways, namely either searching for each word in the primary text in a database or dictionary of primary text words to find the coded secondary text corresponding to the word in primary text and displaying the coded text corresponding to the primary text word in the position where the primary text word appears, commonly called a "find and replace" program, or alternatively, the computer may undertake an algorithmic conversion of the primary text according to one or more rules governing the conversion into the secondary text. Normally, the algorithmic conversion of the primary text will be performed on individual words which are "new" or "unrecognised" in the primary text. It is preferred that where a word is new or unrecognised in the primary text, the transliteration will normally return an unchanged word. Preferably, the word which is not recognised or is new to the system will be flagged and forwarded to a system administrator who will then be responsible for subjecting the unrecognised word to the algorithmic conversion and adding that word to the database of recognised words.

The "find and replace" embodiment of the present system will typically be an iterative process, namely the system will search and replace the first word in the primary text and once complete, move to the next word in the primary text. The system will typically continue to do this until all words in the primary text have been transliterated.

In the "find and replace" embodiment, the system in general and the dictionary or database of recognised words in particular will typically be remote from the point at which a user activates the system, with an activation button located somewhere on a computer page connected to a remote computer or computer network in order to perform the transliteration.

Preferably, the system will operate according to the "find and replace" embodiment when the activation button is engaged. There will normally be a small program implemented on the user's machine which will control the find and replace activity. As mentioned above, the database of recognised words will normally be remote from the user, but it is also anticipated that a database of recognised words may be provided to the user for loading on to a local machine. Where provided in the form for loading onto a local machine, the dictionary or database of recognised words will normally be updatable, typically at prescribed intervals or according to a "push" update system according to which the system administrator will push updates to a local machine as a main or control database of recognised words is updated through the addition of new words which have been converted. According to the algorithmic conversion embodiment, the transliteration will typically be achieved through the application of transliteration rules to the primary text.

The transliteration rules will typically include the following: Typically, the first step involved in reading printed text is the ability to form pronunciation groups within a word. The pronunciation groups may be one or more letters. For example, a simple consonant will typically be a single letter pronunciation group whereas a single letter vowel may include more than one pronunciation group, a group of vowels may be a single pronunciation group or a group of consonants may include one or more pronunciation group. The pronunciation groups will normally be formed according to the individual sounds made in pronouncing the word.

An important part of the present invention is to convert simple monochromatic printed text into a colour-coded visual representation of the original monochromatic printed text to simplify the sounding of the syllables and thereby words and paragraphs. Irrespective of the colours used, the system of the present invention differentiates graphically in the first instance.

Irrespective of which four colours are used, the present invention primarily differentiates graphically in the first instance:

1. the magenta vowel sounds are illustrated as follows, with a numerical superscript between 1 and 22 above the magenta vowel;

A reader can then identify that a letter is a vowel by the colour of the letter or letter group, and the particular sound of the vowel by the numerical superscript according to the particular vowel sound out of the 22 base vowel sounds.

2. the black phonetic consonant letter groups alternate with the magenta vowel sounds in the following manner;

As can be seen from the above, the black phonetic consonant letters all letters groups do not have a pronunciation descriptor and are simply pronounced phonetically.

In the second instance, the system of the present invention differentiates the sub-dominant consonant letter groups from the dominant or phonetic consonant letter or letter groups as well as differentiating the different sub-dominant consonant letter groups from each other as follows:

3. the blue sound switch consonant letter group whose sounds are represented by letter or letter group superscripts above the blue letters, highlight the phonetic irregularities of some constants or consonant groups as follows;

Typically, the letter or letter group superscripts used for sound switch consonant letter groups will be sounded phonetically according to the consonant superscript or where there are more than one consonant present in the superscript, as each consonant in order of reading

4. the yellow silent letter group represents word components which are not spoken or sounded at all and may represent either a consonant or a vowel in the word.

Therefore, the system of the present invention facilitates the syllable by syllable and thereby entire word and paragraph formation by providing instant visual differentiation of the vowel, phonetic, sound switch and silent letter groups as follows:

The algorithmic conversion is therefore preferably based upon the separation of all words into a distinct pattern of alternating vowel sounds and consonants. According to the preferred embodiment, the vowel sounds are given a consistent colour to be easily recognized.

The system administrator will typically the monitor the conversion of new or unrecognised words and their addition to the database of recognised words in case the algorithmic conversion makes errors when converting new or unrecognised words.

The system preferably includes a user computer with a graphical user interface and at least one selection tool for selecting and operating programs associated with the graphical user interface, a system computer or computer network containing the dictionary database, and at least one communications pathway between the user computer and the system computer or computer network.

Typically, the output from this embodiment of the system will be the transliterated text in colour and with coded pronunciation descriptors added to the text. hi the following discussion, the vowels and consonants are represented by the symbols "V" (in red) and "C" (in black) respectively, although any colour can be used. Indeed, in a preferred embodiment, the vowels are illustrated in red and the consonants in black. The system also preferably differentiates between the sub-dominant consonant letter groups which may be present in words by using blue text to illustrate a "sound switch" consonant group with pronunciation sounds in superscript above the letter group and silent letters or letter groups for letters which are not sounded (either consonants or vowels). The algorithmic conversion embodiment will then typically transliterate the text in an iterative word by word manner based on the letters or groups of letters in the word and then replacing the letters in the primary text with corresponding secondary alphabet.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the transliterated secondary text may be associated with further functionality such as an audio recording or one or more still images of the respective word parts in order to assist with the pronunciation of the word. Normally, the secondary text as illustrated on the interface may be selectable via a user using a selection tool, and such selection may normally display or play the audio recording or image(s). Users will typically be able to select text within a larger portion or block of text (whether primary text or secondary text). Where a portion of primary text is selected, activation of the system may transliterate only a portion of the text, or alternatively, where no text is selected, activation of the system may transliterate all of the text appearing on a particular display, page or in a particular document. The system of the present invention may also preferably include representations of a person highlighting the shape and movement of a person's mouth when moving through the initial, middle and final positions of each of the 26 consonant sounds including the sound switch consonant groups, as illustrated in Figure 4. Normally, these representations will be provided as images and more preferred will be provision of the representations in audiovisual means.

Each of the 26 preferred consonant sounds may comprise one or more critical still images as some consonant sounds are sounded as a single sound whereas others are a combination of two or more sounds.

Twenty-three of the 26 illustrated system vowel sounds are single sounds, which can therefore be illustrated as a single still. Three of the 26 illustrated system vowel sounds are double sounds and therefore two stills are illustrated, namely an initial and a final consonant sound. All of the stills in each of the consonant sounds are sounded in a single measure of time, regardless of the number of sounds which produce the consonant sound.

The critical still images and/or audiovisual means will preferably provide representations not only of mouth shape in the formation of each sound but preferably also include tongue position. This may assist with pronunciation generally and accents in particular. It may even convey the slight differences used in accents in the same language.

Each of the critical still images illustrated are in 1/24* of 1 second duration. The critical still images will normally be displayed when a user hovers their selection tool, typically a mouse or similar, over the transliterated text or text portions. An important aspect of the present invention is that the system can be adjusted to account for different accents by using different vowel, consonant and sound switch superscript descriptors. A simple form of the adjustment is illustrated in Figure 5 which illustrates the different superscript descriptors used to indicate the pronunciation of three sample words in "educated English" as compared to "non- educated English". hi addition, hovering a selection tool, for example a mouse pointer over portions of the transliterated text will preferably produce a visual display of the critical still image of that portion. For example where an individual word is divided into its component parts according to the system, offering a mouse pointer over a component of the word will produce a visual display of the critical still image of that component. By scrolling the mouse pointer across the word, the user can then view the critical still images of each of the component parts of the word one after the other, thereby learning how the word is pronounced. An aural or soundbite of the pronunciation of the component may also be produced. The critical still image may be presented in a toolbar at an upper portion of the display, or adjacent the word itself.

The system of the present invention will typically be accessed via a subscription to the system. There may therefore typically be differences in the rights of users of the system. Also, there may be user access for members of the system and , administrator access so that the system administrator can adjust the system or provide improvements or patches or the like.

The subscription to the system will typically involve a monetary charge, typically a predetermined amount in order for access to the system for a predetermined period. Continued membership by a user to the system will typically be made subject to payment of charge.

There may be some "vetting " of prospective user members and by the system administrator prior to accepting the subscription and allowing the user member access to the system.

The subscription may be used in order to track the use of the system and/or operations performed by the user. For example where the system is used to transliterate Internet Web pages, the system may have an embedded sub-routine allowing the system administrator to gather information about the types of pages that particular users access and once there, the actions performed on such a page. Normally, the system administrator will monitor the usage via a communications network such as the Internet or similar.

The results of any such data gathering may be made available to third party members in order to sell advertising on particular pages for example. The third party members may be required to be members of the system, but may be in a different class of membership to the user members.

As suggested above, the system will typically include an action button located in a program, preferably on a toolbar in a program. Typically, the system of the present invention may be purchased by software manufacturers for a licence fee in order to include the system program of the present invention as a bundle embedded in other manufacturer's software.

Subscribers may be able to licence the system on a per programme basis or at a single fee for all programs on a particular machine for example.

The system of the present invention as particularly embodied in the computer program embodiment will normally be secured so that it cannot be loaded into other programs or circumvented for use outside the system constraints and monitoring.

The system of the present invention may also include a pronunciation guide. A pronunciation guide will normally be provided in order to assist the pronunciation of the transliterated text. The pronunciation guide will normally be instructed or applied according to particular rules which will typically include the following:

All words beginning with a vowel sound "a, e, i, o, u" will thereby alternate with the consonant component in the words to form words having a pattern such as:

Words beginning with the consonant sounds or letters in the alphabet will alternate with the vowel sounds or letter components to form words having a pattern such as:

The various consonant letters or letter groups are preferably coded according to this preferred embodiment in either black text or blue text as previously discussed. In the words where consonants are used adjacent to each other, the formation of the spoken phonetic consonant clusters typically occurs as follows:

In words where consonants are used adjacent to each other, the formation of the spoken phonetic consonant clusters which include sound switch consonants, typically occurs as follows:

It is to be noted that the pronunciation of the sound switch group of consonants is preferably determined by the vowel letter or group of either side of the sound switch group.

Formation of consonant clusters including silent consonants (which according to the code of the system yellow) will normally occur subject to the above rules relating to spoken phonetic consonant clusters and clusters including sound switch consonants in the following way:

The system of the algorithmic conversion embodiment also deals with the formation of syllables within words. Given that the consonant sounds and the vowel sounds in a word normally alternate with one another, the system preferably has a number of rules for dealing with the formation of syllables as follows: (a) When the word begins with a consonant, the following cascading steps are taken - i. the default situation is to join a black consonant to an adjacent red vowel to form the first syllable and then proceed through the word joining each black consonant with the following red vowel; ii. follow step (a)(i), and where two black consonants are used in the middle of a word, join the first black consonant with the preceding syllable and the second black consonant is then joined with the following red vowel; iii. follow step (a)(i), and where three black consonants are used in the middle of a word, join the first two black consonants with the preceding syllable and the third black consonant is then joined with the following red vowel; iv. follow step (a)(i), and where two red vowels are used in the middle of a word, join the second red vowel with the following black consonant; v. follow step (a)(i), and where a sound switch consonant is used, treat the sound switch consonant as a black consonant sound; vi. follow step (a)(i), and where a sound switch consonant group is used, divide the sound switch consonant into its component sounds and follow the above rules for division of the component sounds with the preceding and subsequent red vowel sounds.

(b) When the word begins with a vowel, the following cascading steps are taken - i. Where there is only one red vowel sound and one black consonant sound, the two are sounded together; ii. where there is only one black consonant after the first red vowel and the black consonant is followed by another red vowel, the first red vowel is sounded by itself, and then the black consonant is joined to the following red vowel to form the second syllable; iii. where two black consonants follow the first red vowel, the consonants are divided, one joined with the preceding red vowel and the second black consonant joined to the subsequent red vowel or sounded by itself; iv. follow step (b)(ii) and where two red vowels appear in the middle of a word, the second red vowel is either sounded by itself or j oined with a subsequent black consonant (if any) ; v. where two red vowels appear at the start of the word, the first red vowel is sounded by itself, and the second red vowel is linked with the following black consonant, or blue sound switch consonant (if any); vi. where a blue sound switch consonant group with two consonant sounds follows a red vowel, divide the sound switch consonant into its component sounds and follow the above rules for division of the component sounds with the preceding and subsequent red vowel sound; vii. where a blue sound switch consonant group with more than two consonant sounds follows a red vowel join the first two sound switch consonant sounds with the preceding red vowel and the last with the subsequent red vowel sound.

As can be seen above, the blue sound switch consonant groups will typically be provided with a pronunciation descriptor which includes one or more of 22 vowel sounds and/or one or more of 26 basic consonant sounds.

In a further form, the present invention resides in a transliteration system for converting printed primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text in a secondary, coded alphabet wherein the secondary coded alphabet displays the transliterated text in international phonetic symbols to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the primary alphabet. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic Association as a standardized representation of the sounds of spoken language.

The IPA is designed to represent only those qualities of speech that are distinctive in spoken language: phonemes, intonation, and the separation of words and syllables. To represent additional qualities of speech such as tooth-gnashing, lisping, and sounds made with a cleft palate, an extended set of symbols called the Extended

IPA is used.

The IPA is not the only phonetic transcription system in use. The other common Latin-based system is the Americanist phonetic notation, devised for representing American languages, but used by some US linguists as an alternative to the IPA. There are also sets of symbols specific to Slavic, Indie, Finno-Ugric, and

Caucasian linguistics, as well as other regional specialties. The differences between these alphabets and IPA are relatively small, although often the special characters of the IPA are abandoned in favour of diacritics or digraphs.

Other alphabets, such as Hangul, may have their own phonetic extensions. There also exist featural phonetic transcription systems, such as Alexander Melville Bell's Visible Speech and its derivatives.

The International Phonetic Association recommends that a phonetic transcription should be enclosed in square brackets "[ ]". A transcription that specifically denotes only phonological contrasts may be enclosed in slashes "/ /" instead. If one is in doubt, it is best to use brackets, for by setting off a transcription with slashes one makes a theoretical claim that every symbol within is phonemically contrastive for the language being transcribed. Phonetic transcriptions try to objectively capture the actual pronunciation of a word, whereas phonemic transcriptions are model-dependent.

For phonetic transcriptions, there is flexibility in how closely sounds may be transcribed. A transcription that gives only a basic idea of the sounds of a language in the broadest terms is called a broad transcription; in some cases this may be equivalent to a phonemic transcription (only without any theoretical claims). A close transcription, indicating precise details of the sounds, is called a narrow transcription. These are not binary choices, but the ends of a continuum, with many possibilities in between. All are enclosed in brackets. Neither transcription makes any claims about the phonemic status of the sounds. Instead, they represent certain ways in which it is possible to produce the sounds that make up the word.

There are also several possibilities in how to transcribe this word phonemically, but here the differences are generally not of precision, but of analysis.

However, phonemic transcriptions may also be broad or narrow, or perhaps it would be better to say abstract vs. concrete. They may show a fair amount of phonetic detail, usually of a phoneme's most common allophone, but because they are abstract symbols they do not need to resemble any sound at all directly. Phonemic symbols will frequently be chosen to avoid diacritics as much as possible, under a 'one sound one symbol' policy, or may even be restricted to the ASCII symbols of a typical keyboard.

Occasionally a transcription will be enclosed in pipes ("| |"). This goes beyond phonology into morphological analysis. To avoid confusion with IPA symbols, it may be desirable to specify when native orthography is being used, so that, for example, the English word yet is not read as "yet". This is done with angle brackets or chevrons: jet.. It is also common to italicize such words, but the chevrons indicate specifically that they are in the original language's orthography, and not in English transliteration. Iconic

In iconic phonetic notation, the shapes of the phonetic characters are designed so that they visually represent the position of articulators in the vocal tract. This is unlike alphabetic notation, where the correspondence between character shape and articulator position is arbitrary. This notation is potentially more flexible than alphabetic notation in showing more shades of pronunciation. An example of iconic phonetic notation is the Visible Speech system, created by Scottish phonetician, Alexander Melville Bell. Analphabetic

Another type of phonetic notation that is more precise than alphabetic notation is analphabetic phonetic notation. Instead of both the alphabetic and iconic notational types' general principle of using one symbol per sound, analphabetic notation uses long sequences of symbols to precisely describe the component features of an articulatory gesture. This type of notation is reminiscent of the notation used in chemical formulas to denote the composition of chemical compounds. Although more descriptive than alphabetic notation, analphabetic notation is less practical for many purposes (e.g. for descriptive linguists doing fieldwork or for speech pathologists impressionistically transcribing speech disorders). As a result, this type of notation is uncommon.

Any of the above secondary alphabets may be used in order to render the primary text into a more phonetic equivalent. The secondary text may be coloured as outlined above to indicate the vowels and/or consonants but this may be more difficult with symbol based alphabets. Brief Description of the Drawings.

Various embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a representative portion of monochromatic printed text.

Figure 2 is the text of Figure 1 transliterated according to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a graphical illustration of the critical still images of the 22 vowel sounds of the system of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a graphical illustration of the critical still images of the 26 consonant and consonant grouping sounds of the system of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a graphical illustration of an example of the system of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, used to pronounce text in an accent from the transliterated secondary text and the differences required.

Figure 6 is a schematic illustration of a preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention in which the transliteration occurs a central server which contains a database and a plug-in program is provided at a user interface.

Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating the application of the transliteration algorithm to a portion of primary text.

Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating the application of the conversion algorithm for converting a new or unrecognised word into a transliterated word in coloured text for addition to the database of transliterated words.

Figure 9 is a flow chart illustrating the preferred method for division of a word beginning with a consonant into syllables according to an aspect of the present invention.

Figure 9 is a flow chart illustrating the preferred method for division of a word beginning with a vowel into syllables according to an aspect of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment, a transliteration system is provided.

The transliteration system of the preferred embodiment is a transliteration engine for use in conjunction with computer displayed text for converting printed primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text in a secondary, coded alphabet wherein the secondary coded alphabet displays the text in coloured text with letter identifiers to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the primary alphabet whilst preserving the actual letters of the words in the primary text. The system of the present invention is based around an empirical sound-to-letter association key which can be used to convert simple monochromatic printed text and international phonetic symbols into a multicoloured and coded format allowing a user to more simply pronounce the words represented in the monochromatic printed text or international phonetic symbols. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the system includes an activation button located on a toolbar in a program, typically an Internet browser interface, which activates or performs the transliteration of the primary text into the secondary coded text.

The system of the preferred embodiment involves one or more computers searching for each word in the primary text in a database or dictionary of primary text words to find the coded secondary text corresponding to the word in primary text and displaying the coded text to which the primary text word corresponds in the position where the primary text word appears, commonly called a "find and replace" program. The "find and replace" embodiment of the preferred embodiment is an iterative process, namely the system will search and replace the first word in the primary text, and once complete, move to the next word in the primary text. The system continues to do this until all words in the primary text have been transliterated. primary text, and once complete, move to the next word in the primary text. The system continues to do this until all words in the primary text have been transliterated. hi the "find and replace" embodiment, the dictionary or database is located on a server remote from the point at which a user activates the system, with an activation button located somewhere on a computer page connected to a remote server containing the dictionary database in order to perform the transliteration. hi this embodiment, the system includes a user computer with a graphical user interface and a selection tool for selecting and operating programs associated with the graphical user interface, a system computer or computer network containing the dictionary database, and a communications pathway between the user computer and the system computer or computer network.

Typically, the output from this embodiment of the system is the transliterated text in colour and with coded pronunciation descriptors added to the text. The code is typically embodied in the following manner:

1. a magenta vowel with appropriate superscript represents one of 22 separate vowel sounds;

2. a black consonant is sounded phonetically;

3. a blue consonant is provided with a blue coded superscript illustrating the phonetic sound made by the blue consonant; and

4. yellow letters and E word endings are not sounded.

5. the magenta vowel sounds are illustrated as follows with a numerical superscript between one and 22 above the magenta vowel;

6. the black phonetic consonant letter groups alternate with the magenta vowel sounds in the following manner;

In the second instance, the system of the present invention differentiates the sub-dominant consonant letter groups from the dominant consonant letter groups as well as differentiating the different sub-dominant consonant letter groups from each other as follows:

> 7. the blue sound switch consonant letter group whose sounds are represented by letter or letter group superscripts above the blue letters, highlight the phonetic irregularities of some constants or consonant groups as follows;

8. the yellow silent letter group represents word components which are not spoken or sounded at all and may represent either a consonant or a power in the word.

The vowel sounds are therefore sounded according to a list of coded vowel sounds and identified by the superscript number above the vowels in the word, the consonants are sounded according to a list of coded consonant sounds, the blue sound switch consonant letter groupings are sounded according to a phonetic superscript provided and the yellow letters are not pronounced.

Typically, the first step involved in reading printed text is the ability to form syllables within a word.

An important part of the present invention is to convert simple5 monochromatic printed text into a colour-coded visual representation of the original monochromatic printed text to simplify the sounding of the syllables and thereby words and paragraphs. Irrespective of the colours used, the system of the present invention differentiates graphically in the first instance.

As stated above, the present invention is somewhat based upon the separation of all words into a distinct pattern of alternating vowel sounds and consonants. According to the preferred embodiment, the vowel sounds are given a consistent colour to be easily recognized.

In the following discussion, the vowels and consonants are represented by the symbols "V" (in red) and "C" (in black) respectively. Indeed, in the preferred embodiment, the vowels are illustrated in red and the consonants in black. The system also differentiates between the sub-dominant consonant letter groups which may be present in words by using blue text to illustrate a "sound switch" consonant group with pronunciation sounds in superscript above the letter group and silent letters or letter groups for letters which are not sounded (either consonants or vowels).

Words beginning with the consonant sounds or letters in the alphabet will alternate with the vowel sounds all letter components to form words having a pattern such as:

The various consonant letters or letter groups are coded according to the present invention in either black text or blue text as previously discussed. In the words where consonants are used adjacent to each other, the formation of the spoken phonetic consonant clusters typically occurs as follows:

It is to be noted that the pronunciation of the sound switch group of consonants is determined by the vowel letter or group of either side of the sound switch group.

Formation of consonant clusters including silent consonants (which according to the code of the system yellow) will occur subject to the above rules relating to spoken phonetic consonant clusters and clusters including sound switch consonants in the following way:

The system of the present invention also deals with the formation of syllables within words. Given that the consonant sounds and the vowel sounds in a word normally alternate with one another according to the present invention, the system preferably has a number of rules for dealing with the formation of syllables as follows: (c) When the word begins with a consonant, the following cascading steps are taken — i. the default situation is to join a black consonant to an adjacent red vowel to form the first syllable and then proceed through the word joining each black consonant with the following red vowel; ii. follow step (a)(i), and where two black consonants are used in the middle of a word, join the first black consonant with the preceding syllable and the second black consonant is then joined with the following red vowel; Hi. follow step (a)(i), and where three black consonants are used in the middle of a word, join the first two black consonants with the preceding syllable and the third black consonant is then joined with the following red vowel; iv. follow step (a)(i), and where two red vowels are used in the middle of a word, join the second red vowel with the following black consonant; treat the sound switch consonant as a black consonant sound; vi. follow step (a)(i), and where a sound switch consonant group is used, divide the sound switch consonant into its component sounds and follow the above rules for division of the component sounds with the preceding and subsequent red vowel sounds.

(d) When the word begins with a vowel, the following cascading steps are taken - i. Where there is only one red vowel sound and that one black consonant sound, the two are sounded together; ii. where there is only one black consonant after the first red vowel and the black consonant is followed by another red vowel, the first red vowel is sounded by itself, and then the black consonant is joined to the following red bow to form the second syllable; iii. where to black consonants follow the first red vowel, the consonants are divided, one joined with the preceding red vowel and the second black consonant joined to the subsequent read vowel or sounded by itself; iv. follow step (b)(ii) and where to read fouls appear in the middle of a word, the second a red vowel is either sounded by itself or joined with a subsequent black consonant (if any); v. where to read fouls appear at the start of the word, the first red bow is said by itself, and the second red vowel is linked with the following black consonant, or blue sound switch consonant (ifany); vi. where a blue sound switch consonant group with two consonant sounds follows a red vowel divide the sound switch consonant into its component sounds and follow the above rules for division of the component sounds with the preceding and subsequent red vowel sound; vii. where a blue sound switch consonant group with more than two consonant sounds follows a red vowel join the first to sound switch consonant sounds with the preceding red vowel and the last with the subsequent red vowel sound.

When the above-mentioned system is applied to printed primary text in a first alphabet, it transliterates the text into a second, coded alphabet wherein the second coded alphabet displays the text in coloured text with letter identifiers to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the first alphabet. An example is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 which illustrates the printed primary text and the transliterated text respectively.

Once the text has been transliterated according to the preferred embodiment, the next step is the pronunciation of the words following the pronunciation guides of the colour-coded transliterated text.

The system of the present invention also preferably includes representations of a person highlighting the shape and movement of a person's mouth when moving through the initial, middle and final positions of each of the 22 preferred vowel sounds, as illustrated in Figure 3. Normally, these representations will be provided as images and more preferred will be provision of the representations in audiovisual means.

Each of the 22 preferred vowel sounds may comprise one or more critical still images as some vowel sounds are sounded as a single sound whereas others are a combination of two or more sounds. Each of the vowel sounds are illustrated in Figure 3. As can be seen from Figure 3, each of the vowel sounds has a superscript descriptor, a corresponding International Phonetic Symbol, the system vowel sound (whether single, double or triple sound) and a critical still which corresponds to the system vowel sound.

Twelve of the 22 illustrated system vowel sounds are single sounds, which can therefore be illustrated as a single still. Eight of the 22 illustrated system vowel sounds are double sounds and therefore two stills are illustrated, namely an initial and a final vowel sound. Two of the 22 illustrated system vowel sounds are triple sounds and therefore three stills are illustrated, namely an initial, a middle, and a final vowel sound. All of the stills in each of the vowel sounds are sounded in a single measure of time, regardless of the number of sounds which produce the vowel sound.

The system of the present invention may also preferably include representations of a person highlighting the shape and movement of a person's mouth when moving through the initial, middle and final positions of each of the 26 consonant sounds including the sound switch consonant groups, as illustrated in Figure 4. Normally, these representations will be provided as images and more preferred will be provision of the representations in audiovisual means. Each of the 26 preferred consonant sounds may comprise one or more critical still images as some consonant sounds are sounded as a single sound whereas others are a combination of two or more sounds.

Each of the critical still images illustrated are in 1/24* of 1 second duration. The critical still images will normally be displayed when a user hovers their selection tool, typically a mouse or similar, over the transliterated text or text portions. An important aspect of the present invention is that the system can be adjusted to account for different accents by using different vowel, consonant and sound switch superscript descriptors. A simple form of the adjustment is illustrated in Figure 5 which illustrates the different superscript descriptors used to indicate the pronunciation of three sample words in "educated English" as compared to "non- educated English".

In the present specification and claims (if any), the word "comprising" and its derivatives including "comprises" and "comprise" include each of the stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or more further integers.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more combinations. In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims (if any) appropriately interpreted by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A transliteration system for converting primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text in coloured text letters or letter groups, at least some of the coloured text having letter identifiers to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the primary alphabet.

2. A transliteration system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transliterated text is displayed in coloured text preserving the letters in the primary text.

3. A transliteration system as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein each letter or letter group in a word is provided in a colour or shade dependent upon the pronunciation of the letter or letter group, with the colour of the letters or letter groups being indicative of either a vowel sound, a consonant sound, a sound switch consonant, or a silent letter.

4. A transliteration system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the colours are used in the following manner: a. a magenta vowel with appropriate superscript representing one of 22 separate vowel sounds for vowels or vowel groups; b. a black consonant for phonetically sounded or "simple" consonant sounds; c. a blue consonant letter or letter group with an appropriate letter or letter group superscript illustrating the phonetic pronunciation sound made by a sound switch consonant group with a phonetically "complex" consonant sound; and d. yellow letters for letters, and letter groups which are not sounded.

5. A transliteration system as claimed in claim 4 wherein the pronunciation sound of the sound switch group of consonants is determined by a vowel letter or group on either side of the sound switch group.

6. A transliteration system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims embodied in a computer program executed on a computer, which when executed loads an activation button onto a toolbar in at least one computer program executed on the computer.

7. A transliteration system as claimed in claim 6 wherein the activation button is a shortcut to a program which will perform the transliteration and thereby alter the displayed text.

8. A transliteration system as claimed in either claim 6 or claim 7 wherein a database or dictionary of primary text words is provided with each primary text word having a corresponding transliterated word associated therewith.

9. A transliteration system as claimed in claim 8 wherein when the activation button is engaged, the program searches for each word in the primary text in the database to find the transliterated text corresponding to the word in primary text and displays the transliterated text corresponding to the primary text word in the position where the primary text word appears.

10. A transliteration system as claimed in claim 9 wherein an algorithmic conversion of the primary text is performed on individual words which are unrecognised in the search of the primary text in the database, the transliteration system returning an unchanged word in the primary text, forwards the unrecognized word algorithmic conversion and adding that word to the database of recognised words once converted.

11. A transliteration system as claimed in either claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the searching is an iterative process until all words in the primary text have been transliterated or deemed unrecognized whereupon the system will return the transliterated text.

12. A transliteration system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each letter or letter group in the transliterated text is associated with one or more still images of a person highlighting the shape and movement of a person's mouth when moving through the positions of the mouth in pronunciation of the respective letter or letter group in order to assist with the pronunciation of the word.

13. A transliteration system as claimed in claim 12 wherein a sound recording of the respective letter or letter group is also provided for playback.

14. A transliteration system as claimed in either claim 12 or claim 13 wherein all critical still images are sounded in a single measure of time, regardless of the number of sounds which produce the sound.

15. A transliteration system as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 14 wherein the critical still images provide representations not only of mouth shape in the formation of each sound but also include tongue position.

16. A transliteration system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein access to a system is via a subscription.

17. A transliteration system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein an algorithmic conversion of a word into a transliterated word utilises the formation of pronunciation syllables within words.

18. A transliteration system as claimed in claim 17 wherein during algorithmic conversion of a word, the following cascading steps are taken when the word begins with a consonant: a. the default situation is to join a black consonant to an adjacent red vowel to form the first syllable and then proceed through the word joining each black consonant with the following red vowel; b. follow step (a), and where two black consonants are used in the middle of a word, join the first black consonant with the preceding syllable and the second black consonant is then joined with the following red vowel; c. follow step (a), and where three black consonants are used in the middle of a word, join the first two black consonants with the preceding syllable and the third black consonant is then joined with the following red vowel; d. follow step (a), and where two red vowels are used in the middle of a word, join the second red vowel with the following black consonant; e. follow step (a), and where a sound switch consonant is used, treat the sound switch consonant as a black consonant sound; f. follow step (a), and where a sound switch consonant group is used, divide the sound switch consonant into its component sounds and follow the above rules for division of the component sounds with the preceding and subsequent red vowel sounds.

19. A transliteration system as claimed in either claim 17 or 18 wherein during algorithmic conversion of a word, the following cascading steps are taken when the word begins with a vowel: a. Where there is only one red vowel sound and one black consonant sound, the two are sounded together; b. where there is only one black consonant after the first red vowel and the black consonant is followed by another red vowel, the first red vowel is sounded by itself, and then the black consonant is joined to the following red vowel to form the second syllable; c. where two black consonants follow the first red vowel, the consonants are divided, one joined with the preceding red vowel and the second black consonant joined to the subsequent red vowel or sounded by itself; d. follow step (b)(ii) and where two red vowels appear in the middle of a word, the second red vowel is either sounded by itself or joined with a subsequent black consonant (if any); e. where two red vowels appear at the start of the word, the first red vowel is sounded by itself, and the second red vowel is linked with the following black consonant, or blue sound switch consonant (if any); f. where a blue sound switch consonant group with two consonant sounds follows a red vowel, divide the sound switch consonant into its component sounds and follow the above rules for division of the component sounds with the preceding and subsequent red vowel sound; g. where a blue sound switch consonant group with more than two consonant sounds follows a red vowel join the first two sound switch consonant sounds with the preceding red vowel and the last with the subsequent red vowel sound.

20. A transliteration engine for use in conjunction with computer displayed text for converting printed primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text in a secondary, coded alphabet wherein the secondary coded alphabet displays the text in coloured text, at least some of the coloured text having letter identifiers to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the primary alphabet.

21. A transliteration system for converting printed primary text in a primary alphabet into transliterated text in a secondary, coded alphabet wherein the secondary coded alphabet displays the transliterated text in international phonetic symbols to enable pronunciation of the text in the language of the primary alphabet.