SOUNDEX

Purpose

SOUNDEX returns a phonetic representation of a string. You can use SOUNDEX to compare words which sounds similar, but are spelled different.

Syntax

soundex::=

Usage Notes

  • For the computation of SOUNDEX the algorithm is used which is described in: Donald Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming, Vol. 3.
  • The result is always a string with 4 characters (1 letter and 3 digits).
  • This function is similar to COLOGNE_PHONETIC, which is more appropriate for German words.

Example

SELECT SOUNDEX('smythe'), SOUNDEX('Smith');
Result
SOUNDEX('smythe') SOUNDEX('Smith')
S530 S530