The symbol description of the symbols in symbols.dic and cldr.dic is not read correctly when the description contains punctuation such as dash or apostrophe.
Below are two examples, one from each file.

Steps to reproduce:

• Ensure to have NVDA and TTS in English
• Read the two following symbols character by character moving the cursor with the arrows: ➔ 👕

Actual behavior:

➔ is read "right dash pointing arrow"
👕 is read "T dash shirt"

Expected behavior:

➔ should be read "right pointing arrow"
👕 should be read "T shirt"

System configuration

NVDA installed/portable/running from source:

NVDA version:

Last alpha
Version : source-master-0dbab4d

Windows version:

Windows 10 1809 (64-bit) build 17763.1935

Name and version of other software in use when reproducing the issue:

N/A

Other information about your system:

Other questions

Does the issue still occur after restarting your computer?

Not tested but surely yes.

Have you tried any other versions of NVDA? If so, please report their behaviors.

NVDA 2021.1 doesn't have this issue.

If add-ons are disabled, is your problem still occurring?

Yes

Does the issue still occur after you run the COM Registration Fixing Tool in NVDA's tools menu?

Not tested; but should not be related.

Notes

• Regression in alpha stage, probably introduced by Speak all symbols when moving by words (#11779) #11856. Cc @JulienCochuyt, @seanbudd, @feerrenrut
• The same issue also occurs in localized symbol and cldr files. With French translators, we have removed dashes and apostrophes in symbol descriptions of the symbol files. But then I have realized that the same issue was present in the CLDR file. Removing dashes, apostrophes and maybe other punctuation in symbol and CLDR files is probably not the solution. Cc @MichelSuch