WORDBUILDER

Phonetic Alphabet Reference

E A S T W E S T S O U N D S
Mastering the Phonetic Alphabets
The Phonetic and Votox alphabets used in WordBuilder share a close relationship, but
the Votox alphabet was designed exclusively for WordBuilder for the sole purpose of no-
tating individual sounds that, when combined, form words that are sung.

Please note! WordBuilder functionality is only available for the following Play Libraries:
Symphonic Choirs, Hollywood Choirs, and Hollywood Backup Singers.

The Importance of Votox

We recommend learning Votox text mode. The English text mode is a good starting place,
and the Phonetic text mode is useful, but both are converted to Votox text mode where
WordBuilder gives you control over each component of sound used to construct syllables
and words.

Language options are available in Votox text

mode. This option does not affect the sound
of the words, just the symbols used to rep-
resent them.
• Latin uses Votox symbols that more
closely reflect spellings in Romance
languages.
• English uses Votox symbols that more
closely reflect spellings in English lan-
guages.

To select a language option, click on the

Options button to open the Options Dialog.
In the default tab, General Options, click in the drop-down menu under the Vowels
header, to select between ‘English’ and ‘Latin’ language options.

Types of Speech Sounds

The smallest perceptible units of sounds that make up syllables and words are called
phonemes. All the different types of speech sounds are included in the Pronunciation
Guide below, also broken down into separate vowels, diphthongs, and consonants tables.
• Vowels are a speech sounds produced by vibrating vocal chords in an open vocal tract
with no obstruction. When sung, it forms the voiced pitch of the syllable.
• Consonants (pitched) are speech sounds where the breath is (partly) obstructed. When
combined with a vowel sound a syllable is formed.
• Consonants (non-pitched) are produced by breath alone, and do not engage the vocal
tract to produce a definite pitch. This is also referred to as Unvoiced.
• Diphthongs are speech sounds that consist of two distinct vowels sounds that are
cross-faded between each other within a single syllable.
Phonetic Pronunciation Tables
The tables in the section contain the different alphabet symbols used in both the Pho-
netic and Votox languages, and examples of English words to help contextualize the
sound of each pronunciation. The Votox alphabet is further broken down into English and
Latin alphabet language options.

The first table contains the entire set of alphabet symbols regardless of speech type, with
subsequent tables containing only specific speech types, including vowels, diphthongs,
and consonants (both pitched and non-pitched).

P H O N E T I C P R O N U N C I AT I O N TA B L E
Phonetic alphabet Votox alphabet English Reference
Latin English

a A u money, rough
a! a a copper, wander
Ai ai aE white, sigh
Au Au uO brown, mouse
b b b blue, slab
c! C! C! chair, catch
- h! h! nacht (night)
d d d red, candor
d! t! t! the, neither
e e e red, steady
e! a! A black, after
Ei Ei iE gray, slate
f F F file, enough
g g g green, leg
g! ng ng ping, hangar
h H H hat, ahead
i i E index, finger
i! ii EE green, ski
j j j orange, fidget
k K K black, coal
l l l blue, less
m m m money, hammer
n n n green, snug
o o o orange, naughty
l continued l
 P H O N E T I C P R O N U N C I AT I O N TA B L E
Phonetic alphabet Votox alphabet English Reference
Latin English

a A u money, rough
Oi oi oE oil, boy
Ou ou oO yellow, ocean
p P P pink, upper
- Q Q quick, queen
r r r red, car
r! Ar ur purple, lower
rr r! r! rojo, perro
s S S silver, lace
t T T white, true
t! T! T! theme, sloth
u U U put, could
u! u O blue, pool
v v v olive, avert
w w w wait, awash
x X X fix, excess
x! S! S! flesh, nation
y y y yellow, yonder
z z z zero, poison
z! zj zj vision, azure
l continued l
 PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION GUIDE V O W E L S & D I P H T H O N G S
VOWELS are speech sounds produced by vibrating vocal chords in an open vocal tract with no
obstruction. When sung, it forms the voiced pitch of the syllable.

Phonetic alphabet Votox alphabet English Reference

Latin English

a A u money, rough
a! a a copper, wander
e e e red, steady
e! a! A black, after
i i E index, finger
o o o orange, naughty
u U U put, could
u! u O blue, pool
- i E only used in diphthongs

DIPHTHONGS are speech sounds that consist of two distinct vowels sounds that are cross-faded
between each other within a single syllable.

Ai ai aE white, sigh
Au Au uO brown, mouse
Ei Ei iE gray, slate
i! ii EE green, ski
Oi oi oE oil, boy
Ou ou oO yellow, ocean
r! Ar ur purple, lower
 PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION GUIDE C O N S O N A N T S
PITCHED CONSONANTS are speech sounds where the breath is (partly) obstructed. When
combined with a vowel sound a syllable is formed.
Phonetic alphabet Votox alphabet English Reference
Latin English

b b b blue, slab
d d d red, candor
g g g green, leg
j j j orange, fidget
l l l blue, less
m m m money, hammer
n n n green, snug
r r r red, car
t! T! T! theme, sloth
v v v olive, avert
w w w wait, awash
y y y yellow, yonder
z z z zero, poison
NON-PITCHED CONSONANTS are produced by breath alone, and do not engage the vocal
tract to produce a definite pitch. This is also referred to as Unvoiced.
c! C! C! chair, catch
- h! h! nacht (night)
d! t! t! the, neither
f F F file, enough
g! ng ng ping, hangar
h H H hat, ahead
k K K black, coal
p P P pink, upper
- Q Q quick, queen
rr r! r! rojo, perro
s S S silver, lace
t T T white, true
x X X fix, excess
x! S! S! flesh, nation
z! zj zj vision, azure