17 lines
906 B
Text
17 lines
906 B
Text
Soundex is a phonetic algorithm for indexing names by sound, as
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pronounced in English. The goal is for names with the same pronunciation
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to be encoded to the same representation so that they can be matched
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despite minor differences in spelling. Soundex is the most widely
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known of all phonetic algorithms and is often used (incorrectly)
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as a synonym for "phonetic algorithm". Improvements to Soundex are
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the basis for many modern phonetic algorithms. (Wikipedia, 2007)
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This module implements the original soundex algorithm developed by
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Robert Russell and Margaret Odell, patented in 1918 and 1922, as
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well as a variation called "American Soundex" used for US census
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data, and current maintained by the National Archives and Records
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Administration (NARA).
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The soundex algorithm may be recognized from Donald Knuth's The Art
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of Computer Programming. The algorithm described by Knuth is the
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NARA algorithm.
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