1. A method, comprising: receiving, from a user, a string of characters; determining components of the string of characters, wherein the components of the string of characters comprise one or more graphemes that are related in the string of characters; determining universal phonetic representations for the components of the string of characters; determining pronunciations for the universal phonetic representations; constructing a pronunciation of the string of characters based at least partially on the pronunciations of the universal phonetic representations; and sending, to the user, a sound file representing the pronunciation of the string of characters.