When use a lexicon versus pronunciation information in a grammar?

Pronunciations in Lexicons and Grammars

A lexicon is a collection of words and information about these words used by a speech recognition engine to increase its recognition accuracy. A text-to-speech engine uses a lexicon to enhance its the quality of its pronunciation.

SAPI 5 supports two types of lexicons that you may manage: user and application. A user lexicon is a collection of words specific to the user who is logged onto the system. An application lexicon is a collection of words specific to an application accessible by all users of the system.

Chant GrammarKit enables you easily add and edit pronunciations directly in speech recognition grammars.

Chant VoiceMarkupKit is enables you easily add and edit pronunciations directly in text-to-speech markup.

If the pronunciation is needed infrequently or just for a specific application, then it makes sense to include it in grammars and lexicons. If you need the pronunciation frequently for more than one application, then it makes sense to add it to a lexicon.

Chant LexiconKit is lexicon management software that enables you to create, delete, modify, extend, backup, and restore user and application lexicons.