TTS Verbalization Guide & Specifications for fr-CA | Guides

Product: fr-CA
Release Date: October 2026
TTS Engine version: 3.4.0

Introduction

This document describes how specific series of strings are read by the TTS Engine for the FR language in the CA domain. Example outputs are in French (Canadian French). The readings are the engine's current output for the version above: when a reading is not what is wanted, this document still shows what the engine does.

Convention: every example table includes a Lexis voice output column. Any new row appears marked with 🆕. Missing support is shown as "unsupported". Numeric ranges use [a-b] (for example, [1-99] means any number from 1 to 99).

Readings are shown in lower case with punctuation as the engine returns it and with hyphens replaced by spaces. Two markers appear in the readings: [pause] is a 0.025 s pause the Lexis voice puts between groups of digits, and [pause 0.2 s] is a fixed pause of 0.2 s.

Numbers

Integers

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[1-9][0-9]`	`25`	vingt cinq
`[2-6]1`	`21`	vingt et un
`71`	`71`	soixante et onze
`80`	`80`	quatre vingts
`[7-9][0-9]`	`94`	quatre vingt quatorze
`1000000`	`1000000`	un million
`1<dot>000<dot>000`	`1.000.000`	un million

Allowed thousands delimiter: dot only; a space reads as separate number groups. Max supported value: 999999999999.

Ordinal numbers

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[1-9]…[0-9]{er}`	`1er`	premier
`[1-9]…[0-9]{re,ère}`	`1re`	première
`[1-9]…[0-9]{e,ème}`	`2e`	deuxième

Decimals

Decimal separator: comma. Three or more digits after the comma are spelled individually; a two-digit fraction is read as a number.

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[1-9]…[0-9]<comma>[0-9]…[0-9]`	`2,4527`	deux virgule quatre cinq deux sept
`<dash>[1-9]…[0-9]<comma>[0-9]…[0-9]`	`-25,78`	moins vingt cinq virgule soixante dix huit
`[1-9]<comma>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dot>[0-9][0-9]`	`1,234.56`	mille deux cent trente quatre virgule cinquante six

Fractions and units

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[1-99]<slash>[1-99]`	`13/16`	treize seizièmes
`[1-99]<slash>[1-99]`	`45/2`	quarante cinq demis
`[1-31]<slash>[1-12] <unit>`	`5/12 km`	cinq douzièmes kilomètre

Digit-by-digit spelling

The dash notation can be used to spell the digit sequence digit by digit. For Lexis, the digits are read in groups of three, with a short pause ([pause], 0.025 s) between the groups. The comma is placed where the input has a space.

Example input	Lexis
`4-2-1-4 2-3-4 7-5-3`	quatre deux un [pause] quatre, deux trois [pause] quatre, sept cinq [pause] trois

16-digit card numbers

Example input	Lexis
`5-8-9-6 4-2-6-5 1-2-3-4 7-4-6-8`	cinq huit neuf [pause] six, quatre deux [pause] six cinq, un [pause] deux trois quatre, [pause] sept quatre six [pause] huit
`5-8-9-6-4-2-6-5 1-2-3-4-7-4-6-8`	cinq huit neuf [pause] six quatre deux [pause] six cinq, un [pause] deux trois quatre [pause] sept quatre six [pause] huit

Counter examples

Numbers joined by a dash more than once are read as integers and each dash is pronounced "tiret" ("10-20-30" is "dix tiret vingt tiret trente"; "4532-1234-5678" is "quatre mille cinq cent trente deux tiret mille deux cent trente quatre tiret cinq mille six cent soixante dix huit").
If only one dash is used, then the digit sequence is handled as an interval.
If no dash is used, the numbers are read as integers.

Example input	Lexis
`4532-1234-5678-9012`	quatre mille cinq cent trente deux tiret mille deux cent trente quatre tiret cinq mille six cent soixante dix huit tiret neuf mille douze
`4532 1234 5678 9012`	quatre mille cinq cent trente deux mille deux cent trente quatre cinq mille six cent soixante dix huit neuf mille douze
`4532-1234-5678`	quatre mille cinq cent trente deux tiret mille deux cent trente quatre tiret cinq mille six cent soixante dix huit
`4532-1234`	quatre mille cinq cent trente deux à mille deux cent trente quatre

Telephone numbers

Format	Example input	Lexis
`<bracket>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<bracket> [0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]`	`(514) 555-1234`	`cinq un quatre, cinq cinq cinq, un deux trois quatre`
`[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]`	`514-555-1234`	`cinq un quatre, cinq cinq cinq, un deux trois quatre`
`+1<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]`	`+1-613-555-0199`	`un six un trois, cinq cinq cinq, zéro un neuf neuf`
`+1 <bracket>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<bracket> [0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]`	`+1 (613) 555-0199`	`un six un trois, cinq cinq cinq, zéro un neuf neuf`
`[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dot>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dot>[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]`	`613.555.0199`	`six un trois, cinq cinq cinq, zéro un neuf neuf`
`1<dash>800<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]`	`1-800-555-0199`	`un huit cents, cinq cinq cinq, zéro un neuf neuf`
`<bracket>[0-9][0-9]<bracket> [0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]`	`(57) 611-403-2312`	`cinq sept, six un un, quatre zéro trois, deux trois un deux`
`<bracket>0[0-9][0-9]<bracket> [0-9][0-9][0-9]<dash>[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9] (not a valid number)`	`(016) 555-0123`	`( seize ) cinq cent cinquante cinq à cent vingt trois`

"+1" is read "un" before the number. A bracketed country code such as "(57)" is read digit by digit. An area code that starts with 0 or 1 is not a valid North American number, so the groups are read as numbers ("(016) 555-0123" is "( seize ) cinq cent cinquante cinq à cent vingt trois").

Combination of numbers and words

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[0-9]…[0-9]<dash>{word}`	`16-bit`	seize bit
`{word}<dash>[0-9]…[0-9]`	`COVID-19`	covid dix neuf

Ratio and intervals

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[0-9]…[0-9]<colon>[0-9]…[0-9]`	`16:9`	seize à neuf
`[0-9]…[0-9]<dash>[0-9]…[0-9]`	`16-9`	seize à neuf

Percentage

Example input	Lexis
`15%`	quinze pour cent
`15 %`	quinze pour cent
`2,5 %`	deux virgule cinq pour cent

Time

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[00-24]<colon>[00-59]`	`23:15`	`vingt trois heures quinze`
`[00-24]<colon>30`	`23:30`	`vingt trois heures trente`
`12<colon>00`	`12:00`	midi
`00<colon>00`	`00:00`	minuit

Date

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[2-31] {month} [0-9]{4}`	`14 mai 2022`	le quatorze mai deux mille vingt deux
`1er {month} [0-9]{4}`	`1er juin 2020`	le premier juin deux mille vingt
`[0-9]{4}-[00-12]-[00-31]`	`2022-11-02`	le deux novembre deux mille vingt deux

Units

Format	Example input	Lexis
`{amount}{unit}`	`2,5GB`	2, 5gb
`{amount}<space>{unit}`	`1,5 GB`	un virgule cinq gb

Supported unit abbreviations

Abbreviation	Lexis
`m`	mètre / mètres
`km`	kilomètre / kilomètres
`h`	heure / heures
`s`	seconde / secondes
`°C`	not a unit: `5°C` reads cinquième c

Words

Abbreviations and spelling

Format	Example input	Lexis
`[A-Z]…[A-Z]`	`ABC`	abc
`[A-Z]<dot>[A-Z]<dot>`	`B.C.`	b. c

Common abbreviations

Example input	Lexis
`Prof.`	prof
`Dr`	docteur
`Mme`	madame
`Dr.`	docteur
`Bjr`	bonjour
`Pr.`	professeur
`Pr`	professeur
`Mme.`	madame
`M.`	monsieur
`Mlle`	mademoiselle
`Mlle.`	mademoiselle
`Av.`	avenue
`av. J.-C.`	avant j c
`p.ex.`	par exemple
`p. ex.`	par exemple
`pex`	par exemple
`No`	no
`Nº`	nº
`N°`	n °
`Tél.`	téléphone
`Tel.`	téléphone
`App.`	appartement
`Boul.`	boulevard
`Ch.`	chemin
`Succ.`	succursale
`C.P.`	case postale
`C. P.`	case postale
`par ex.`	par exemple
`No.`	no
`Nº.`	nº
`N°.`	n °
`Nos`	nos
`Nos.`	nos
`Janv.`	janvier
`Fév.`	février
`Févr.`	février
`Avr.`	avril
`Juil.`	juillet
`Juill.`	juillet
`Sept.`	sept
`Oct.`	octobre
`Nov.`	novembre
`Déc.`	décembre

Note: "Prof." is not expanded ("Pr" is "professeur"). Lookup is case-insensitive, but the all-caps "AV." is spelled letter by letter. "av." and "Av." are read "avenue", except when followed by "J.-C." or "J.C.", where "av." is read "avant"; "J.-C." itself is not expanded to "jésus christ". Without the dot ("av J.-C.") or with "J-C.", "av" is not read as "avant". "CAD" is not expanded as "c'est à dire"; it is the Canadian dollar code. "No", "Nº", "N°" (with or without a dot) are read "numéro" only before a number when the context-aware setting is on. "Nos" is expanded only before a number, and "Sept." only next to a number.

Dashed words

Example input	Lexis
`porte-monnaie`	porte monnaie
`Montréal - Québec`	montréal [pause 0.2 s] québec

URLs and e-mails

URLs

Format	Example input	Lexis
`(www)<dot>{word}<dot>{domain}`	`www.google.com`	w w w, point google, point c o m
`http(s)://{word}<dot>{domain}`	`https://google.com`	`h t t p s, deux points, double barre oblique google, point c o m`
`(http(s)://)(www)<dot>{word}<dot>{domain}<slash>{word}#{word}`	`https://www.x.com/a#b`	`h t t p s, deux points, double barre oblique w w w, point x, point c o m, barre oblique a, croisillon b`

E-mails

Format	Example input	Lexis
`{word}@{word}<dot>{domain}`	`info@omilia.com`	`i n f o, arobase om ilia, point c o m`
`{word}<comma>{word}@{word}<dot>{domain}`	`a,b@x.com`	`a, virgule b, arobase x, point c o m`

Symbols in the part before "@" are read by name: "," is "virgule", ";" is "point virgule", "&" is "et commercial" and "%" is "pour cent".

Currency

Format	Example input	Lexis
`{amount} {symbol}`	`25,10 $`	vingt cinq dollars et dix cents
`{amount} {code}`	`25 USD`	vingt cinq dollars américains

Currency codes and symbols

Code	Lexis	Subdivision
`USD`	dollar américain / dollars américains	cent / cents
`EUR`	euro / euros	centime / centimes
`JPY`	yen japonais / yens japonais	none

Symbol	Lexis
`$`	dollar / dollars
`€`	euro / euros
`£`	livre / livres
`¥`🆕	yen japonais / yens japonais

Note: "$ CA" and "$ US" are read as the CAD and USD codes ("25 $ CA" is "vingt-cinq dollars canadiens").

Punctuation and character processing

Supported characters

Char	Description	Used as/in	Lexis
`.`	period	sentence end / thousands delimiter	✅
`,`	comma	sentence break / decimal separator; "virgule" in URLs and e-mails	✅
`-`	dash	number group / minus sign / interval	✅
`@`	at sign	e-mail address	✅
`%`	percent	percentage value; "pour cent" in URLs and e-mails	✅
`;`	semicolon	"point virgule" in URLs and e-mails	✅
`&`	ampersand	"et commercial" in URLs and e-mails	✅
`#`	number sign	"croisillon" in URLs	✅

Punctuation intonation

Char	Lexis effect
`.`	falling intonation
`?`	rising intonation for yes/no questions
`,`	falling intonation
`!`	a lone exclamation mark is rewritten as a full stop (falling intonation)
space / dash	short pause (a spaced dash is a fixed pause of 0.2 s)
no punctuation at the end of a sentence	a period is added automatically