Editing Phonetic algorithm (section)

== Common uses ==
* [[Spell checkers]] can often contain phonetic algorithms. The [[Metaphone]] 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 engine technology|Search]] 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 [[wikt:Claire|Claire]]. 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 [[Soundex]] all three variations produce the same Soundex code, C460. By searching names based on the Soundex code all three variations will be returned.
* [[Data deduplication]] efforts use phonetic algorithms to easily bucket records into groups of similar sounding names for further evaluation.
* [[Speech to text]] modules use phonetic encoding to find the set of dictionary words that are pronounced similarly to the phonemes output by the processed audio signal.