How to make Python speak

Question

How could I make Python say some text?

I could use Festival with subprocess but I won\'t be able to control it (or maybe in interactive mode, but it won\'t be clean)

Answer 1

Combining the following sources, the following code works on Windows, Linux and macOS using just the platform and os modules:

• cantdutchthis' answer for the mac command
• natka_m's comment for the Ubuntu command
• BananaAcid's answer for the Windows command
• Louis Brandy's answer for how to detect the OS
• nc3b's answer for how to detect the Linux distribution

tx = input("Text to say >>> ")
tx = repr(tx)

import os
import platform

syst = platform.system()
if syst == 'Linux' and platform.linux_distribution()[0] == "Ubuntu":
    os.system('spd-say %s' % tx)
elif syst == 'Windows':
    os.system('PowerShell -Command "Add-Type –AssemblyName System.Speech; (New-Object System.Speech.Synthesis.SpeechSynthesizer).Speak(%s);"' % tx)
elif syst == 'Darwin':
    os.system('say %s' % tx)
else:
    raise RuntimeError("Operating System '%s' is not supported" % syst)

Note: This method is not secure and could be exploited by malicious text.