#define SYNTH_BUF_SIZE 8192    /* currently 8K bytes */
 
-static u_char synth_buffer[SYNTH_BUF_SIZE];    /* guess what this is for! */
-static u_char *buff_in = synth_buffer;
-static u_char *buff_out = synth_buffer;
-static u_char *buffer_end = synth_buffer + SYNTH_BUF_SIZE - 1;
+static u16 synth_buffer[SYNTH_BUF_SIZE];       /* guess what this is for! */
+static u16 *buff_in = synth_buffer;
+static u16 *buff_out = synth_buffer;
+static u16 *buffer_end = synth_buffer + SYNTH_BUF_SIZE - 1;
 
 /* These try to throttle applications by stopping the TTYs
  * Note: we need to make sure that we will restart them eventually, which is
 
 static int synth_buffer_free(void)
 {
-       int bytes_free;
+       int chars_free;
 
        if (buff_in >= buff_out)
-               bytes_free = SYNTH_BUF_SIZE - (buff_in - buff_out);
+               chars_free = SYNTH_BUF_SIZE - (buff_in - buff_out);
        else
-               bytes_free = buff_out - buff_in;
-       return bytes_free;
+               chars_free = buff_out - buff_in;
+       return chars_free;
 }
 
 int synth_buffer_empty(void)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_buffer_empty);
 
-void synth_buffer_add(char ch)
+void synth_buffer_add(u16 ch)
 {
        if (!synth->alive) {
                /* This makes sure that we won't stop TTYs if there is no synth
                buff_in = synth_buffer;
 }
 
-char synth_buffer_getc(void)
+u16 synth_buffer_getc(void)
 {
-       char ch;
+       u16 ch;
 
        if (buff_out == buff_in)
                return 0;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_buffer_getc);
 
-char synth_buffer_peek(void)
+u16 synth_buffer_peek(void)
 {
        if (buff_out == buff_in)
                return 0;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_buffer_peek);
 
+void synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1(void)
+{
+       while (buff_out != buff_in) {
+               if (*buff_out < 0x100)
+                       return;
+               buff_out++;
+               if (buff_out > buffer_end)
+                       buff_out = synth_buffer;
+       }
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1);
+
 void synth_buffer_clear(void)
 {
        buff_in = synth_buffer;
 
 
 void spk_do_flush(void);
 void speakup_start_ttys(void);
-void synth_buffer_add(char ch);
+void synth_buffer_add(u16 ch);
 void synth_buffer_clear(void);
 void speakup_clear_selection(void);
 int speakup_set_selection(struct tty_struct *tty);
 
                        synth->flush(synth);
                        continue;
                }
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
                        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
                        break;
 
                        synth->flush(synth);
                        continue;
                }
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
                        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
                        break;
 
                        synth->flush(synth);
                        continue;
                }
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
                        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
                        break;
 
                        synth->flush(synth);
                        continue;
                }
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
                        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
                        break;
 
                        synth->flush(synth);
                        continue;
                }
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
                        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
                        break;
 
                        synth->flush(synth);
                        continue;
                }
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
                        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
                        break;
 
                        synth->flush(synth);
                        continue;
                }
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
                        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
                        break;
 
        spin_lock_irqsave(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
        while (1) {
                prepare_to_wait(&speakup_event, &wait, TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (!synth_buffer_empty() || speakup_info.flushing)
                        break;
                spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
 
 int spk_serial_out(const char ch);
 void spk_serial_release(void);
 
-char synth_buffer_getc(void);
-char synth_buffer_peek(void);
+void synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1(void);
+u16 synth_buffer_getc(void);
+u16 synth_buffer_peek(void);
 int synth_buffer_empty(void);
 struct var_t *spk_get_var(enum var_id_t var_id);
 ssize_t spk_var_show(struct kobject *kobj, struct kobj_attribute *attr,
 int spk_synth_is_alive_restart(struct spk_synth *synth);
 __printf(1, 2)
 void synth_printf(const char *buf, ...);
+void synth_putwc(u16 wc);
+void synth_putwc_s(u16 wc);
+void synth_putws(const u16 *buf);
+void synth_putws_s(const u16 *buf);
 int synth_request_region(unsigned long start, unsigned long n);
 int synth_release_region(unsigned long start, unsigned long n);
 int synth_add(struct spk_synth *in_synth);
 
                        synth->flush(synth);
                        continue;
                }
+               synth_buffer_skip_nonlatin1();
                if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
                        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&speakup_info.spinlock, flags);
                        break;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_printf);
 
+void synth_putwc(u16 wc)
+{
+       synth_buffer_add(wc);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_putwc);
+
+void synth_putwc_s(u16 wc)
+{
+       synth_buffer_add(wc);
+       synth_start();
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_putwc_s);
+
+void synth_putws(const u16 *buf)
+{
+       const u16 *p;
+
+       for (p = buf; *p; p++)
+               synth_buffer_add(*p);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_putws);
+
+void synth_putws_s(const u16 *buf)
+{
+       synth_putws(buf);
+       synth_start();
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(synth_putws_s);
+
 static int index_count;
 static int sentence_count;