Presumably, most TTS software knows that sentences begin with capital letters and standardizes pronunciations accordingly, probably by applying the pronunciation that applies to an all-lower-case form plus the slight emphasis that announces the start of a sentence.
However, a few words must be spelled in all lower case even at the beginnings of sentences, such as the names of most Linux program and a few authors (bell hooks and e.e. cummings). E.g.:
vi is a text editor. bell hooks probably didn't use it.
Other personal names begin in lower case even at the beginning of a sentence. E.g.:
deGraffenried is a jolly camper.
But a period may not signify the end of a prior sentence. E.g.:
We're glad that Ms. bell hooks is a prolific writer.
Contra:
Watch your Ns and Ms. bell hooks is a fastidious writer.
Various sentence structures, including multiple-sentence structures, have to be recognized, in PLS 1.0, <
http://www.w3.org/TR/pronunciation-lexicon/>.
Thank you.
--
Nick
