A phonetic algorithm is an

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specificat ...

for indexing of

word A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...

s by their

pronunciation Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...

. Most phonetic algorithms were developed for

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and are not useful for indexing words in other languages. Because

English spelling English orthography is the writing system used to represent spoken English, allowing readers to connect the graphemes to sound and to meaning. It includes English's norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation, word breaks, emphasis, and p ...

varies significantly depending on multiple factors, such as the word's origin and usage over time and borrowings from other languages, phonetic algorithms necessarily take into account numerous rules and exceptions.

Algorithms

Among the best-known phonetic algorithms are: *

Soundex Soundex is a phonetic algorithm for indexing names by sound, as pronounced in English. The goal is for homophones to be encoded to the same representation so that they can be matched despite minor differences in spelling. The algorithm mainly enc ...

, which was developed to encode surnames for use in censuses. Soundex codes are four-character strings composed of a single letter followed by three numbers. *

Daitch–Mokotoff Soundex Daitch–Mokotoff Soundex (D–M Soundex) is a phonetic algorithm invented in 1985 by Jewish genealogists Gary Mokotoff and Randy Daitch. It is a refinement of the Russell and American Soundex algorithms designed to allow greater accuracy in mat ...

, which is a refinement of Soundex designed to better match surnames of Slavic and Germanic origin. Daitch–Mokotoff Soundex codes are strings composed of six numeric digits. * Cologne phonetics: This is similar to Soundex, but more suitable for German words. *

Metaphone Metaphone is a phonetic algorithm, published by Lawrence Philips in 1990, for indexing words by their English pronunciation. It fundamentally improves on the Soundex algorithm by using information about variations and inconsistencies in English sp ...

and

Double Metaphone Metaphone is a phonetic algorithm, published by Lawrence Philips in 1990, for indexing words by their English pronunciation. It fundamentally improves on the Soundex algorithm by using information about variations and inconsistencies in English s ...

which are suitable for use with most English words, not just names. Metaphone algorithms are the basis for many popular

spell checkers In software, a spell checker (or spelling checker or spell check) is a software feature that checks for misspellings in a text. Spell-checking features are often embedded in software or services, such as a word processor, email client, electronic di ...

. *

New York State Identification and Intelligence System The New York State Identification and Intelligence System Phonetic Code, commonly known as NYSIIS, is a phonetic algorithm devised in 1970 as part of the New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeaster ...

(NYSIIS), which maps similar

phonemes In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...

to the same letter. The result is a string that can be pronounced by the reader without decoding. * Match Rating Approach developed by Western Airlines in 1977 - this algorithm has an encoding and range comparison technique. *

Caverphone The Caverphone within linguistics and computing, is a phonetic matching algorithm invented to identify English names with their sounds, originally built to process a custom dataset compound between 1893 and 1938 in southern Dunedin, New Zealand. St ...

, created to assist in data matching between late 19th century and early 20th century electoral rolls, optimized for accents present in parts of New Zealand.

Common uses

Spell checkers In software, a spell checker (or spelling checker or spell check) is a software feature that checks for misspellings in a text. Spell-checking features are often embedded in software or services, such as a word processor, email client, electronic di ...

can often contain phonetic algorithms. The

algorithm, for example, can take an incorrectly spelled word and create a code. The code is then looked up in directory for words with the same or similar Metaphone. Words that have the same or similar Metaphone become possible alternative spellings. *

Search Searching or search may refer to: Computing technology * Search algorithm, including keyword search ** :Search algorithms * Search and optimization for problem solving in artificial intelligence * Search engine technology, software for findi ...

functionality will often use phonetic algorithms to find results that don't match exactly the term(s) used in the search. Searching for names can be difficult as there are often multiple alternative spellings for names. An example is the name

Claire Clair or Claire may refer to: *Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire * Clair (surname) Places Canada * Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska * Clair Parish, New Brunswick * Pointe-Claire, Q ...

. It has two alternatives, Clare/Clair, which are both pronounced the same. Searching for one spelling wouldn't show results for the two others. Using

all three variations produce the same Soundex code, C460. By searching names based on the Soundex code all three variations will be returned.

References

* {{DADS, phonetic coding, phoneticCoding

External links

* Algorithm fo
converting words to phonemes
and back.
StringMetric project
a Scala library of phonetic algorithms.
clj-fuzzy project
a

Clojure Clojure (, like ''closure'') is a dynamic and functional dialect of the Lisp programming language on the Java platform. Like other Lisp dialects, Clojure treats code as data and has a Lisp macro system. The current development process is comm ...

library of phonetic algorithms. *
SoundexBR
library of phonetic algorithm implemented in R.
Talisman
a

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...

library collecting various phonetic algorithms that one can try online. Phonology

Algorithms

Common uses

See also

References

External links