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Tashkeel & pronunciationAvailable now

Arabic text to speech that says every word right

Add tashkeel to a whole script in one click, check every change before it lands, and teach every voice how to say your brand names, people's names and acronyms, once, for the whole workspace.

  • Your letters are never changed
  • Works with every voice, including clones
  • Included on all plans
Add tashkeelAuto-tashkeel

فِي قَدِيمِ الزَّمَانِ حَكَمَ مَلِكٌ عَادِلٌ مَدِينَةً عَلَى ضِفَافِ النَّهْرِ.

وَالْيَوْمَ تَرْوِي Vocla حِكَايَتَهُ بِصَوْتٍ عَرَبِيٍّ أَصِيلٍ.

Review tashkeelBeforeAfter

Tap a highlighted word to keep your original spelling.

Accept & keep editingAccept
Pronounce “ملك”Alt+Enter
  • مَلِكkingMost likely here
  • مَلَكangel
  • مُلْكkingdom, sovereignty
Use hereAlways say it this way
Tashkeel keys
Pronunciation dictionary
  • VoclaPronounced asفُوكْلا
  • KSAPronounced asكيه إس إيه
  • محمدPronounced asمُحَمَّد

Applies to every script in the workspace

to vowel a whole script or a selection
1 click
dictionary entries per workspace
1,000
library, designed and cloned
Every voice
tools included, audio uses credits as usual
All plans

The problem

Why Arabic text to speech mispronounces words

Arabic is usually written without short vowels. A reader fills them in from context, and so does an AI voice, but when a word has several valid readings, the voice has to guess.

One spelling, three wordsملك
  • مَلِكking
  • مَلَكangel
  • مُلْكkingdom, sovereignty
  • Words without short vowels

    Add tashkeel in one click and review the result, or pick the right reading for a single word in the inspector.

  • Brand names and people's names

    Write the spelling you want once in the pronunciation dictionary, and every voice uses it.

  • Acronyms and Latin terms

    Spell them out the way you say them, such as KSA as كيه إس إيه, and the dictionary does the rest.

How it works

From an unvowelled script to the reading you meant

Everything happens inside the text to speech editor, before you spend a single credit on audio.

  1. Step 1

    Add tashkeel in one click

    Vowel the whole script or just a selection. Vocla's AI adds the diacritics, or turn on Auto-tashkeel and it happens every time you generate.

  2. Step 2

    Review every change

    Each changed word is highlighted. Toggle Before and After, tap a word to keep your original spelling, then Accept. You can undo at any time.

  3. Step 3

    Fix the words that matter

    Open the word inspector on any word to hear its possible readings, or add names, brands and acronyms to your pronunciation dictionary once.

Why Vocla

Pronunciation tools built for Arabic

The same tools you'll find in the Vocla text to speech editor and in Settings › Pronunciation.

  • One-click tashkeel with a real review

    AI vowels the whole script or a selection, then shows every changed word highlighted. Compare Before and After, keep any word as you wrote it, and choose Accept or Accept & keep editing.

  • Your letters stay yours

    Tashkeel only adds diacritics. Any word whose letters would change is kept exactly as written.

  • Remove or automate tashkeel

    Strip every diacritic in one click, or switch on Auto-tashkeel so the script is vowelled automatically each time you generate.

  • A word inspector for tricky words

    Double-click a word, or press Alt+Enter, to see its possible vowellings with short meanings and the most likely one for the context. Hear each reading in your chosen voice.

  • A pronunciation dictionary for the whole workspace

    Teach every voice your brand names, people's names and acronyms once. Up to 1,000 entries per workspace, with search and CSV import and export, applied automatically to every script.

  • Type your own spelling

    Prefer a specific reading? Write it with the on-screen tashkeel keys: fatha, damma, kasra, sukun, shadda and tanween.

Before and after

What a few marks change

The same sentences, with and without tashkeel. Highlighted words are the ones a voice could read more than one way.

  1. Without tashkeel

    حكم الملك البلاد بالعدل

    حكم could be “ruled”, “a ruling” or “a referee”; الملك could be “the king”, “the angel” or “the kingdom”.

    With tashkeel

    حَكَمَ الْمَلِكُ الْبِلَادَ بِالْعَدْلِ

  2. Without tashkeel

    ذهب الطالب إلى المدرسة مبكرا

    ذهب is either “went” or “gold”. The marks decide.

    With tashkeel

    ذَهَبَ الطَّالِبُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَةِ مُبَكِّرًا

  3. Without tashkeel

    علم الطلاب أن الامتحان غدا

    علم can be read as “knew”, “taught”, “knowledge” or “a flag”.

    With tashkeel

    عَلِمَ الطُّلَّابُ أَنَّ الِامْتِحَانَ غَدًا

Names and brands work differently: instead of vowelling them in every script, add them to your pronunciation dictionary once.

Pronunciation dictionary

Teach every voice your names once

Add a brand name, a person's name or an acronym with the spelling you want it read as. From then on, every script in your workspace uses it, in text to speech and in dubbing, while your script stays exactly as you wrote it.

In your dictionary
WordSay it as
VoclaBrand nameفُوكْلا
KSAAcronymكيه إس إيه
محمدProper nameمُحَمَّد

Manage it from the editor drawer or from Settings › Pronunciation.

  • Ignores spelling variants

    Matching skips diacritics and treats alef, ya and ta marbuta variants as the same word, so أحمد and احمد both match.

  • Catches attached prefixes

    The word is still found with a prefix attached, any of و ف ب ك ل and ال, the way Arabic is actually written.

  • Never inside a longer word

    An entry only matches a whole word, so a short name never changes part of another word.

  • Visible in the editor

    Dictionary words are underlined in the text to speech editor, with “Pronounced as…” when you hover.

Guide

Arabic tashkeel for text to speech, explained

What is tashkeel?

Tashkeel (التشكيل) is the set of diacritics that mark the short vowels and other sounds in Arabic writing: fatha, damma and kasra for the short vowels, sukun for the absence of a vowel, shadda for a doubled consonant, and tanween for the -an, -un and -in endings.

Most Arabic text, from news articles to marketing copy, is written without them. Fluent readers restore the vowels from context without thinking. A text to speech voice has to do the same, and for most words it succeeds. The trouble starts with words that have several valid readings.

When do you need to add diacritics?

You rarely need to vowel every word. Add diacritics where a word can be read in more than one way and the context doesn't settle it, such as ملك (king, angel or kingdom) or علم (knew, taught, knowledge or flag), and to rare or classical words, verse and names.

In Vocla you can do both: add tashkeel to the whole script in one click and review the result, or fix a single word with the word inspector. If you want every generation vowelled without touching your text, turn on Auto-tashkeel.

Names, brands and acronyms

Tashkeel can't fix a brand written in Latin letters or an acronym such as KSA. For those, write the spelling you want the voice to read, such as فُوكْلا for Vocla or كيه إس إيه for KSA, in your pronunciation dictionary. The script keeps your original wording, and every voice in the workspace reads the entry your way.

Read the full guide to writing Arabic TTS scriptsWriting scripts for Arabic TTS: tashkeel, numbers and punctuation

Questions about Tashkeel & pronunciation

What does “Add tashkeel” do?

It uses AI to add diacritics to your whole script, or to the part you've selected, in the text to speech editor. You then see a review with every changed word highlighted, can toggle Before and After, keep any word as you wrote it, and choose Accept or Accept & keep editing.

Will tashkeel change my text?

It only adds diacritics. It never changes your letters: a word whose letters would change is kept exactly as written. You can also undo the change at any time, or remove all tashkeel in one click.

What is Auto-tashkeel?

A switch in the editor. When it's on, Vocla vowels the script automatically every time you generate, while the text in your editor stays exactly as you wrote it.

How do I fix the pronunciation of a single word?

Select or double-click the word, or press Alt+Enter, to open the word inspector. It lists the possible vowellings with short meanings and marks the most likely one for the context. Play each one in your chosen voice, then choose Use here or Always say it this way, or type your own spelling with the on-screen tashkeel keys.

What is the pronunciation dictionary?

A list of words, such as brand names, people's names and acronyms, with the spelling every voice should read them as. It applies automatically to every script in your workspace, in text to speech and in dubbing. You can keep up to 1,000 entries, search them, and import or export them as CSV.

Does the dictionary catch words with prefixes or different spellings?

Yes. Matching ignores diacritics and alef, ya and ta marbuta spelling variants, and still finds the word with a prefix attached (any of و ف ب ك ل and ال). It never matches inside a longer word.

Does it work with cloned voices?

Yes. Tashkeel and the pronunciation dictionary work with every voice: library voices, designed voices and cloned voices.

Which plans include the pronunciation tools?

All of them, including the Free plan. Adding tashkeel, the word inspector and the dictionary are free to use; generating audio uses credits as usual.

Do I need to vowel every word in my script?

No. Most words are read correctly from context. Focus on words that can be read more than one way, on rare or classical vocabulary and on names, or let one-click tashkeel handle the script and review the result.

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