The SOUNDEX function checks whether two words are pronounced the same, irrespective of how they're spelled. For example, "Smith" and "Smythe" are pronounced the same even though they're spelled differently.
Syntax:
SOUNDEX ( character_expression )Suppose a table column "LastName" has various employees whose last name is Smith, but written differently. To find all rows whose names are pronounced as Smith, use SOUNDEX:
select * from employees where SOUNDEX(lastname)=SOUNDEX('smith');
SOUNDEX converts an alphanumeric string to a four-character code based on how the string sounds when spoken:
SOUNDEX is also available in MySQL, but works only for English — words in other languages aren't supported as of MySQL version 5.1.
Syntax:
SOUNDEX(str)Suppose we have a table named 'Employees' with the following data:
To see all employees whose name sounds like 'Smith':
select * from employees where SOUNDEX(lastname)=SOUNDEX('smith')
In MySQL, you can also write this more naturally:
select * from employees where lastname SOUNDS LIKE 'smith'