Pronounce
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Pronunciation dictionary for developer jargon - IPA, respelling and audio for 1,650+ sourced entries (kubectl, nginx, JSON).
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Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
PronounceCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"pronounce": {
"server": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"pronounce-mcp"
]
}
}
}
}McpServers
{
"server": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"pronounce-mcp"
]
}
}Transport
"stdio"Package
"pronounce-mcp"Registry
"pypi"Stop saying "kub-cuttle". One Bash command pronounces 1,883 developer jargon names — most with a cited source.
🌐pronounce.renlab.ai· 🇨🇳中文· 📖Browse· 🎯Quiz· 🎤Voice search· 🔌MCP server
▶ Watch the 47-second promo(with voice)·🎯 Try the quiz·🎤 Voice search
git clone https://github.com/anzy-renlab-ai/pronounce.git cd pronounce && ./install.sh say-it kubectl
That's it. Now trysay-it GIF,say-it nginx,say-it Pydantic,say-it --why JSON, orsay-it quizfor a 10-question challenge.Linuxusers: installespeak-ng(sudo apt install espeak-ng) and the CLI just works.Windows: same CLI under WSL or git-bash + PowerShell. Or skip install and use the browser atpronounce.renlab.ai.
⭐ Ifsay-it kubectlsaves you one cringey standup moment —star the repo. It nudges more devs to contribute their favorite mispronounced project name.
🏆 The developer pronunciation scoreboard
1,883 entries — 1,263 carry a citable source—105 settled by the creator themselves,174 the community still argues about.The famous ones:
⚔️ Still contested — both readings are in active use
Every cell has IPA and audio; 1,263 also carry a citable source.Browse all 1,883 entries →
Disagree with one? That's the whole point —open a PRwith your reading and a source. The argumentisthe dataset.
- 1,883 entries — 1,263 carry a citable source.Confidence-tagged (creator-clarified/community-consensus/contested), each with a citable URL where one exists (we'd rather leave it blank than fabricate one). Wilhite said GIF is "jif" at the 2013 Webby Awards. Crockford says JSON is "JAY-son" (RailsConf 2009). RFC 7519 says JWT is "jot". The dictionary cites them.
- Multi-reading audio.For words where the debate is real — GIF, SQL, GUI, char, regex — the CLI chains the alternates after the primary with a spoken "or:" so youhearthe debate without staring at the terminal.--soloskips the tail once you've internalized it.
- One Bash CLI, no npm runtime.No sudo, no framework bootstrap, no surprises. It detects macOSsay, Linuxespeak-ng/espeak, or Windows PowerShellSystem.Speech. The repo also ships aClaude Code skilland anMCP serverso your AI answers "how do you pronounce X?" withaudio, not a phonetic guess.
- Canonical website audio.The site plays each committed canonical MP3 first and uses Web Speech only as a fallback if playback fails.
$ say-it --why JSON word JSON ipa /ˈdʒeɪsən/ respelling_us jay son confidence contested source Wikipedia § Pronunciation url https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON#Pronunciation
Because Google gives you 47 Reddit arguments and a YouTube clip you have to unmute. IPA gives you/ˈkuːb kənˌtroʊl/— a reference, not a teacher.
You don't need a phonetic transcription. You need tohearthe word. Twice. Maybe three times. Done.
say-itships a community-maintained dictionary of how engineers actually say the names that trip everyone up — and feeds theintendedrespelling to your OS's text-to-speech engine, sokubectlcomes out askoob-control, not whatever your computer guessed from the letters.
Some pronunciations aren't opinions — the creators settled them. The dictionary cites every one:
Runsay-it --why <word>to see the citation when an entry has asource_url; unsourced entries are left blank rather than given a fabricated URL.
brew install anzy-renlab-ai/tap/say-it # Homebrew on macOS
Or the "Try it in 30 seconds" block above../install.shdrops:
- the CLI at~/.local/bin/say-it,
- the pronunciation dictionary at~/.local/share/say-it/pronunciations.tsv,
- if you useClaude Code, apronounce-wordskill at~/.claude/skills/pronounce-word/so any "how do you say X?" prompt to your AI gets answered withaudioinstead of IPA,
- the same skill into~/.agents/skills/(Codex CLI) and~/.kiro/skills/(Kiro) when those dirs exist — it's the cross-toolAgent Skillsstandard.
Make sure~/.local/binis on your$PATH.Linuxalso works — installespeak-ng(sudo apt install espeak-ng/brew install espeak-ng).Windows: WSL or git-bash + PowerShell. Or skip install entirely with the browser version atpronounce.renlab.ai.
say-it kubectl # primary × 3, then "or: <alt>" for each alternate say-it --solo kubectl # primary only — silence the "or:" tail say-it --alt GIF # focus on the first alternate say-it --alt 2 GUI # focus on the Nth alternate (1-indexed) say-it --all SQL # primary AND every alternate, each repeated say-it --no-dict kubectl # bypass the dictionary entirely say-it --why JSON # show IPA, source URL, category, confidence say-it list # every word in the dictionary say-it search redis # grep the dictionary (case-insensitive) say-it -n 5 Pydantic # 5 repetitions instead of 3 say-it -r 110 Knative # slower (110 wpm; default is 130) say-it -o /tmp/word.aiff Postgres # save to file instead of playing say-it --list # all macOS voices
The default macOS voice isSamantha(General American);-v <voice>selects another macOS voice. Linux and Windows use their detected backend's English voice. The dictionary is GenAm-only, by design.
You: kubectl 怎么读？ Claude: 🔊 (plays "koob-control" three times) /ˈkuːb kənˌtroʊl/ — "KOOB-control". Kelsey Hightower says it this way (KubeCon talk). "Cube-cuddle" is an alternate — try say-it --alt kubectl to hear it.
Once installed, thepronounce-wordskill auto-triggers on:
- X 怎么读/X 怎么发音/读一下 X
- how do you pronounce X/pronounce X/how do you say X
Your AI replies withsound, not just a phonetic guess. Skill file:skills/pronounce-word/SKILL.md.
Not on Claude?Same skill drops intoCodex CLI(codex plugin marketplace add anzy-renlab-ai/pronounce) andKiro(~/.kiro/skills/), and theMCP servercovers Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, Zed, Cline & friends — full matrix inintegrations/.
Hover over any tech word in any file — see the IPA, hear the pronunciation. Same 1,883-entry dictionary as the CLI, JSON-bundled at build (zero runtime parse cost).
# Cursor / VSCodium / Zed / Gitpod / Theia / code-server (Open VSX) code --install-extension sayit.pronounce # or the listing: https://open-vsx.org/extension/sayit/pronounce
Now live on Microsoft Marketplace too:ext install sayit.pronouncein VS Code. See[marketplace listing.
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