This stack also provides a fairly complete explanation of Macintalk and phonetic writing (although you donΓÇÖt have to write phonetically to use Macintalk).
There are also complete facilities for experimenting with computer-generated speech. The button shaped like a test tube takes you to the Speech Lab, where you can write phonetic strings and hear what they sound like, have English text translated into phonetic strings, and copy the results for use in your scripts. You can click on this button now or at any time, and the return button in the Speech Lab card will bring you back.
In conjunction with the Speech Lab, you will find the Macintalk Phoneme Table indispensable. The button shaped like a pad takes you to the Macintalk Phoneme Table, and clicking anywhere on the screen except the ‘Show Vowel’ button or the ‘Show Consonant’ button will bring you back. The table is on two cards, with the ‘Show …’ buttons toggling between the two.
