PHP metaphone() Function

Calculate the metaphone key of "World":

<?php
echo metaphone("World");
?>

Definition and Usage

The metaphone() function calculates the metaphone key of a string.

A metaphone key represents how a string sounds if said by an English speaking person.

The metaphone() function can be used for spelling applications.

Note: The metaphone() function creates the same key for similar sounding words.

Note: The generated metaphone keys vary in length.

Tip: metaphone() is more accurate than the soundex() function, because metaphone() knows the basic rules of English pronunciation.

metaphone(string,length)

Parameter	Description
string	Required. Specifies the string to check
length	Optional. Specifies the maximum length of the metaphone key

Return Value:	Returns the metaphone key of the string on success, or FALSE on failure.
PHP Version:	4+

Using the metaphone() function on two similar sounding words:

<?php
$str = "Assistance";
$str2 = "Assistants";

echo metaphone($str);
echo "<br>";
echo metaphone($str2);
?>

Using the length parameter:

<?php
$str = "Assistance";
$str2 = "Assistants";

echo metaphone($str,5);
echo "<br>";
echo metaphone($str2,5);
?>