Issues with Phonetic/Pronunciation for Contacts

Anyone else having an issue where they add the phonetic pronunciation or just the regular pronunciation for a name in their contacts and when you hit done the pronunciation disappears from under the name and Siri doesn’t recognize that you made a change?

iPhone 11, iOS 15

Posted on Jul 5, 2022 06:27 PM

Similar questions

Siri is No Longer Pronouncing my Contact Names Correctly. It seems like Siri isn’t pronouncing my contact names correctly and it is becoming a bit of an annoyance; especially when the previous updates made it super easy to train Siri to pronounce names simply by allowing Siri to record your voice then, coming up with various ways to choose the correct form. Currently apple has added a feature in Contacts to add the pronunciation however, even after breaking syllables down in Lehman terms, Siri is not quite getting it right. is there a way to correct this issue and will Apple acknowledge that this is a talked about problem; hopefully find a way to resolve it?
660 3
Why does iOS Contacts Sort by Phonetic Name? I've submitted feedback before on the official iPhone Feedback page before (iphone many months ago), but this still hasn't been resolved. When you add a phonetic spelling to a contact card in iOS (or any Apple OS), the Contacts app uses the phonetic spelling to sort the names, rather than the correct legitimate name spelling. The phonetic spelling should be used for just that: phonetics and pronunciation. It shouldn't be used for sorting the name in contacts. This wouldn't be a problem if Siri still had the built-in feature to fix pronunciation, but they removed that I believe in iOS 15 for some reason; so to fix Siri's pronunciation and recognition of differently-spelled than pronounced names, you have to enter a phonetic spelling in the Contacts app. EX: If someone's last name is "Zailafohnn," but it's pronounced "Xylophone," the Contacts app will put the contact card in the completely wrong category under Z instead of under X. Here are four other Community posts from many years ago that were not noticed or resolved, also because the problem was less prominent then. 4601614 2331509 3412679 4682937 Please bring attention to this so it gets fixed.😁
667 1
Siri does not use the phonetic nor pronunciation fields I am trying to make Siri pronounce names correctly, but adding a phonetic or pronunciation field in the contacts app has no effect. As an example, my father's name is written "Ioannis" but pronounced "Ianis". I added it as a phonetic and pronunciation field, but Siri keeps using the "Ioannis". The same applies to other names.
426 2

1 reply

ColleenD1

Community Specialist

Jul 6, 2022 12:42 PM in response to Savage_patch_kid

Hey Savage_patch_kid,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We understand that you're having an issue with the phonetic pronunciation of a contact. We'd like to help.

Has Siri ever been able to say the name of this contact correctly? If so, do you remember any changes you may have made that changed that behavior? Are you currently running the latest iOS? That would be iOS 15.5. If not, try to Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Once that is done, make sure you're complete the step here to Edit contacts on iPhone - Apple Support and change the pronunciation.

If you continue to have issues, reach back out to us and let us know if this affects one contact or more than one.

Take care!

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Issues with Phonetic/Pronunciation for Contacts

Welcome to Apple Support Community

A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.

Learn more Sign up