Phonetic transcription standards for european names (ONOMASTICA)

exchanging national names amongst the partners to create a matrix of 'nativised' pronunciations for each (thereby) foreign name in each other language. This paper details the standards identified for phonetic transcription of names as part of the ONOMASTICA project, a European-wide research initiative for the construction of a multi-language pronunciation lexicon of proper names. The main design criteria adopted by the consortium for the development of this multi-language pronunciation dictionary are discussed, including aspects such as phonetic transcription standards, definitions of quality, quality control mechanisms and language specific details concerning phonetic transcription and the annotation of the language of origin. 1.1 OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED IMPACT The non-availability of large pronunciation dictionaries of names continues to impede the development of many applications in speech technology. In particular, the acceptability of applications where speech output systems provide spoken feedback depends heavily on the capability of producing correct, or at least acceptable, pronunciations for names of various categories.