"break" Element

Description

The break element is an empty element that controls pausing or other prosodic boundaries between words. Use of the break element between any pair of words is optional. If the element is not present between words, the synthesis processor inserts a pause between phrases or sentences.

Syntax

<break
 time = time interval (unit: s | ms)
 strength = "none" | "x-weak" | "weak" | "medium" | "strong" | "x-strong"
/>

Attributes

AttributeDescription
timeAbsolute value of the pause. (ms: milliseconds, s: seconds). Optional field.
strengthRelative value of the pause. (none=0ms, x-weak=233ms, weak=466ms, medium=700ms, strong=933ms, x-strong=1166ms). Optional field.

Parent

<audio>, <emphasis>, <p>, <prosody>, <s>, <speak>, <voice>

Children

None.

Limitations/Restrictions

If neither time nor strength is specified, the default value <break strength="medium"/> is used.

If both time and strength are specified, the time value takes priority. The value of time is restricted to 0–65,535 ms (0–65.535 s). Any time value above 65,535 ms is clamped to 65,535 ms when using TTS2, though values up to 120,000 ms are supported with TTS3. Per the SSML specification, the minimum time value is 0 ms.

Example

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<speak version="1.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/synthesis"
     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/synthesis
               http://www.w3.org/TR/speech-synthesis/synthesis.xsd"
     xml:lang="en-US">

  Take a deep breath <break/>
  then continue.

  Press 1 or wait for the tone. <break time="3s"/>
  I didn't hear you! <break strength="weak"/> Please repeat.
</speak>
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