pronounce-word — speak the word out loud
Purpose. When the user asks how to pronounce an English word — and especially a project, product, or programmer-jargon name (kubectl, nginx, Pydantic, LaTeX, JSON, ...) — don't just respond in text. Play the audio so they can hear the community reading, then add a short text caption with the source.
Trigger patterns
Auto-invoke ONLY when the user's message matches a single-word or short-name pronunciation request:
- English:
how to pronounce <X>, how do you pronounce <X>, pronounce <X>, how do you say <X>, what does <X> sound like
- Chinese:
<X> 怎么读, <X> 怎么念, <X> 怎么发音, 读一下 <X>, 念一下 <X>
<X> MUST be a single token: a word, project name, product name, acronym, or identifier — the kind of thing a developer would actually type into say-it <X>. The dictionary is keyed on single tokens, so multi-word input is spoken raw (not looked up); for a two-part name pick the head token (say-it postgres, not say-it postgres database).
Do NOT trigger this skill when:
<X> is a sentence or paragraph the user wants narrated (e.g. 读一下这段 / read this paragraph). That's a TTS request, not a pronunciation lookup. Suggest say "<sentence>" instead, or just answer in text.- The message is asking about pronunciation conceptually (e.g.
IPA 是什么 / what is phonetic spelling). Answer in text.
<X> is non-English everyday vocabulary or a person's name unrelated to tech. The dictionary's editorial scope is tech-only — fall through to a text-only answer, or skip.
If the target token is ambiguous (multiple candidates in the message), ask which one before invoking.
What to do
Speak it 3 times via say-it.
say-it <word>
The CLI looks the word up in the dictionary and, if found, sends the dictionary's English-like respelling (e.g. "koob control") to the TTS engine so the pronunciation is the intended community reading — not whatever the engine would have guessed from the spelling alone. (macOS say does not parse IPA / [[inpt PHON]] / SSML <phoneme> markup — it reads them literally — so the dictionary stores respellings that ride the engine's built-in letter-to-sound rules.) If the word isn't in the dictionary, the CLI speaks the raw spelling.
Defaults: voice Samantha (General American), rate 130 wpm, 3 repetitions. This blocks until the audio finishes; the user hears it through the speakers.
Reply with one short line of text alongside the audio. Always include:
- The IPA reading (GenAm).
- The "syllabified" / respelling form (e.g. "KOOB-control").
- Source of the pronunciation when the dictionary entry has one (creator interview, conference talk, official FAQ). Surface the URL — it's the project's headline feature.
- For contested readings, mention the alternative and how to play it (
say-it --alt <word>).
Use say-it --why <word> to inspect the dictionary entry (IPA, alternates, source, category, confidence) if you need to compose the caption — this is the canonical metadata for the reply.
Examples
Example 1 — creator-clarified word:
User: GIF 怎么读？
Tool call:
say-it GIF
Reply:
🔊 /dʒɪf/ — "JIF". Per the creator Steve Wilhite at the Webby Awards 2013. The alternate reading /ɡɪf/ is widespread too — try say-it --alt GIF to hear it.
Example 2 — community-consensus product name:
User: how do you pronounce kubectl
Tool call:
say-it kubectl
Reply:
🔊 /ˈkuːb kənˌtroʊl/ — "KOOB-control". Kelsey Hightower and most K8s maintainers say it this way (talk). "Cube-cuddle" and letter-by-letter "K-U-B-E-C-T-L" both circulate as alternates.
Example 3 — tech term not yet in the dictionary:
User: how do you pronounce containerd
Tool call:
say-it containerd
Reply:
🔊 /kənˈteɪnər diː/ — "container-D" (the D is for "daemon"). Per the containerd docs.
Useful flags
| Flag |
Effect |
| (none) |
Primary × 3, then a spoken "or: <alt>" for each recorded alternate. |
--solo |
Primary × 3 only — silence the "or:" tail. |
--alt [N] |
Focus on the Nth alternate (default N=1) instead of the primary. |
--all |
Primary AND every alternate, each repeated, chained with "or:". |
--why |
Print the dict entry's IPA, source URL, category, confidence, notes (no audio). |
--json |
Print the entry as JSON (in_dict, alt arrays, source) — the cleanest form to parse when composing the caption (no audio). |
--md |
Print a ready-to-paste markdown card (no audio). |
--copy |
Copy the respelling to the clipboard after speaking. |
--no-dict |
Bypass the dictionary; let the TTS engine interpret the raw spelling. |
-n 5 |
Repeat 5 times instead of 3. |
-r 110 |
Slower rate (110 wpm; default is 130). |
-o /tmp/word.aiff |
Save to file instead of playing. |
Why the default chains alternates. Multi-reading words (GIF, SQL, GUI, kubectl, char, ...) carry useful context: the user should know there's debate. Chaining alternates audibly with "or:" makes that perceptible without forcing them to read the terminal. Use --solo when the user has already grasped the multi-reading status and just wants the primary again.
Notes
- The CLI auto-detects a TTS backend: macOS
say, Linux espeak-ng/espeak, or Windows PowerShell. macOS quality is the gold standard; the others are functional best-effort. If no backend is found, the CLI prints install hints, but the text-only flags (--why, --json, --md) still work — fall back to a text IPA + respelling reply in that case.
- If the user says "stop playing audio" or "just text", skip the speak step for the rest of the conversation.
- Tech context only. This skill targets project names, product names, programmer jargon, and acronyms (
kubectl, nginx, Pydantic, JSON, GIF, regex, ...). For general English vocabulary the user wants spoken (rare), say-it <word> still works (falls through to raw TTS), but the dictionary's editorial scope is tech-only.
- The dictionary is American English (GenAm) only. UK/AU/etc. readings are explicitly out of scope.
1---2name: pronounce-word3description: User asks how to pronounce an English word or project/product name ("how to pronounce X", "pronounce X", "X 怎么读", "X 怎么发音", "读一下 X"). Generate audio via the `say-it` CLI so the user actually HEARS the word — three times by default — instead of only writing IPA/syllable hints. The CLI consults a community-maintained pronunciation dictionary (kubectl → "koob-control", GIF → "jif", JSON → "jay-son", ...) and feeds an English-like respelling to the system TTS engine (macOS `say`, Linux `espeak-ng`, or Windows PowerShell) so project names come out the way engineers actually say them. Triggers on a single word or short phrase the user explicitly wants spoken.4license: MIT5---67# pronounce-word — speak the word out loud89**Purpose.** When the user asks how to pronounce an English word — and especially a project, product, or programmer-jargon name (`kubectl`, `nginx`, `Pydantic`, `LaTeX`, `JSON`, ...) — don't just respond in text. Play the audio so they can hear the *community* reading, then add a short text caption with the source.1011## Trigger patterns1213Auto-invoke ONLY when the user's message matches a **single-word or short-name** pronunciation request:1415- English: `how to pronounce <X>`, `how do you pronounce <X>`, `pronounce <X>`, `how do you say <X>`, `what does <X> sound like`16- Chinese: `<X> 怎么读`, `<X> 怎么念`, `<X> 怎么发音`, `读一下 <X>`, `念一下 <X>`1718`<X>` MUST be a single token: a word, project name, product name, acronym, or identifier — the kind of thing a developer would actually type into `say-it <X>`. The dictionary is keyed on single tokens, so multi-word input is spoken raw (not looked up); for a two-part name pick the head token (`say-it postgres`, not `say-it postgres database`).1920**Do NOT trigger this skill when:**2122- `<X>` is a sentence or paragraph the user wants narrated (e.g. `读一下这段` / `read this paragraph`). That's a TTS request, not a pronunciation lookup. Suggest `say "<sentence>"` instead, or just answer in text.23- The message is asking *about* pronunciation conceptually (e.g. `IPA 是什么` / `what is phonetic spelling`). Answer in text.24- `<X>` is non-English everyday vocabulary or a person's name unrelated to tech. The dictionary's editorial scope is tech-only — fall through to a text-only answer, or skip.2526If the target token is ambiguous (multiple candidates in the message), ask which one before invoking.2728## What to do29301. **Speak it 3 times via `say-it`.**3132 ```bash33 say-it <word>34 ```3536 The CLI looks the word up in the dictionary and, if found, sends the dictionary's English-like respelling (e.g. "koob control") to the TTS engine so the pronunciation is the *intended* community reading — not whatever the engine would have guessed from the spelling alone. (macOS `say` does not parse IPA / `[[inpt PHON]]` / SSML `<phoneme>` markup — it reads them literally — so the dictionary stores respellings that ride the engine's built-in letter-to-sound rules.) If the word isn't in the dictionary, the CLI speaks the raw spelling.3738 Defaults: voice `Samantha` (General American), rate 130 wpm, 3 repetitions. This blocks until the audio finishes; the user hears it through the speakers.39402. **Reply with one short line of text alongside the audio.** Always include:4142 - The IPA reading (GenAm).43 - The "syllabified" / respelling form (e.g. "KOOB-control").44 - **Source** of the pronunciation when the dictionary entry has one (creator interview, conference talk, official FAQ). Surface the URL — it's the project's headline feature.45 - For *contested* readings, mention the alternative and how to play it (`say-it --alt <word>`).46473. **Use `say-it --why <word>` to inspect** the dictionary entry (IPA, alternates, source, category, confidence) if you need to compose the caption — this is the canonical metadata for the reply.4849## Examples5051**Example 1 — creator-clarified word:**5253User: `GIF 怎么读？`5455Tool call:56```bash57say-it GIF58```5960Reply:61> 🔊 /dʒɪf/ — "JIF". Per the creator Steve Wilhite at the [Webby Awards 2013](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/business/media/creator-of-the-gif-says-its-pronounced-jif.html). The alternate reading /ɡɪf/ is widespread too — try `say-it --alt GIF` to hear it.6263**Example 2 — community-consensus product name:**6465User: `how do you pronounce kubectl`6667Tool call:68```bash69say-it kubectl70```7172Reply:73> 🔊 /ˈkuːb kənˌtroʊl/ — "KOOB-control". Kelsey Hightower and most K8s maintainers say it this way ([talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wgAIvXpJqU)). "Cube-cuddle" and letter-by-letter "K-U-B-E-C-T-L" both circulate as alternates.7475**Example 3 — tech term not yet in the dictionary:**7677User: `how do you pronounce containerd`7879Tool call:80```bash81say-it containerd82```8384Reply:85> 🔊 /kənˈteɪnər diː/ — "container-D" (the D is for "daemon"). Per the [containerd docs](https://containerd.io/).8687## Useful flags8889| Flag | Effect |90|------|--------|91| (none) | Primary × 3, then a spoken `"or: <alt>"` for each recorded alternate. |92| `--solo` | Primary × 3 only — silence the "or:" tail. |93| `--alt [N]` | Focus on the Nth alternate (default N=1) instead of the primary. |94| `--all` | Primary AND every alternate, each repeated, chained with "or:". |95| `--why` | Print the dict entry's IPA, source URL, category, confidence, notes (no audio). |96| `--json` | Print the entry as JSON (`in_dict`, alt arrays, source) — the cleanest form to parse when composing the caption (no audio). |97| `--md` | Print a ready-to-paste markdown card (no audio). |98| `--copy` | Copy the respelling to the clipboard after speaking. |99| `--no-dict` | Bypass the dictionary; let the TTS engine interpret the raw spelling. |100| `-n 5` | Repeat 5 times instead of 3. |101| `-r 110` | Slower rate (110 wpm; default is 130). |102| `-o /tmp/word.aiff` | Save to file instead of playing. |103104**Why the default chains alternates.** Multi-reading words (`GIF`, `SQL`, `GUI`, `kubectl`, `char`, ...) carry useful context: the user should know there's debate. Chaining alternates audibly with `"or:"` makes that perceptible without forcing them to read the terminal. Use `--solo` when the user has already grasped the multi-reading status and just wants the primary again.105106## Notes107108- The CLI auto-detects a TTS backend: macOS `say`, Linux `espeak-ng`/`espeak`, or Windows PowerShell. macOS quality is the gold standard; the others are functional best-effort. If no backend is found, the CLI prints install hints, but the text-only flags (`--why`, `--json`, `--md`) still work — fall back to a text IPA + respelling reply in that case.109- If the user says "stop playing audio" or "just text", skip the speak step for the rest of the conversation.110- **Tech context only.** This skill targets project names, product names, programmer jargon, and acronyms (`kubectl`, `nginx`, `Pydantic`, `JSON`, `GIF`, `regex`, ...). For general English vocabulary the user wants spoken (rare), `say-it <word>` still works (falls through to raw TTS), but the dictionary's editorial scope is tech-only.111- The dictionary is American English (GenAm) only. UK/AU/etc. readings are explicitly out of scope.
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