Cologne Phonetic Algorithm

The Cologne phonetic algorithm, also known as the Kölner Phonetic algorithm or the Kölner Phonetik, is a phonetic algorithm for indexing words by their pronunciation. It is commonly used for proper nouns, such as personal names, but can also be applied to other words. The algorithm is based on the principles of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and it assigns a unique code to each word based on the way it sounds when spoken. This code can then be used to index the word in a database or other data structure, allowing it to be searched and compared with other words. The Cologne phonetic algorithm is commonly used in applications such as spelling correction and speech recognition.

At Tilores we use the Cologne phonetic algorithm as one of the potential data record matching algorithms for entity resolution. These can be combined with other matching algorithms to allow fine-tuned data matching and deduplication.