Remove accents without using iconv

Question

What is the best way to remove accents eg.

ÈâuÑ" becomes "Eaun"

Without using iconv

iconv tends to give mixed results on different operating systems — Mark Lalor, Aug 22 '10 at 19:19
possible duplicate of [How do I remove accents from characters in a PHP string?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1017599/how-do-i-remove-accents-from-characters-in-a-php-string) — outis, Jul 22 '12 at 08:31

Artefacto · Answer 1 · 2011-07-02T22:54:28.923

17

A lot more simply:

$text = "ÈâuÑ foo bar 88.";
var_dump(preg_replace('/\p{M}/u', '',
    Normalizer::normalize($text, Normalizer::FORM_D)));

gives:

string(16) "EauN foo bar 88."

The idea is to decompose the characters into the form where they're actually two Unicode code units, with an individual one for the accents. Then, you remove those accents.

\p{M} means "a character intended to be combined with another character (e.g. accents, umlauts, enclosing boxes, etc.)".

Note that this is not a definitive solution. It may be enough for the input text you have, but many characters, like ø do not decompose, so this method will fail.

edited Jul 02 '11 at 22:54

answered Aug 22 '10 at 18:53

Artefacto

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But, its availability is: (PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PECL intl >= 1.0.0) – shamittomar Aug 22 '10 at 18:55
The intl library has been bundled with PHP 5.3. – Artefacto Aug 22 '10 at 19:02
I have 5.3.1 and It doesn't recognize the class!? – Mark Lalor Aug 22 '10 at 19:06
@Mark, we'll it's bundled with PHP, that doesn't mean it's active. In your case, it appears it isn't. – Artefacto Aug 22 '10 at 19:10
Hmm, I use xampp for a server, how would I activate it? – Mark Lalor Aug 22 '10 at 19:18
3

@Mark Should be a matter of adding `extension=php_mintl.dll` in the appropriate section of your `php.ini` file and restarting Apache. – Artefacto Aug 22 '10 at 19:23
4

I’m still waiting for somebody to show me how to remove the marks from ØøĐđĦħŁłŦŧ ƀƁƂƃƇƈƊƋ ƌƑƒƓƗƘƙ ƚƛƝƞƟƤƥ ƫƬƭƮƲƳƴƵƶ ƺƻƾǤǥȠȡȤȥ ȴȵȶȺȻȼȽȾȿ ɀɃɆɇɈɉɊɋɌ ɍɎɏɓɕɖɗɚɝ ɟɠɦɧɨɫɬɭɰɱ ɲɳɺɻɼɽɾɿʂ ʄʆʈʋʐʑʓʛʝ ʠʡʢʥʨʮʯᴌᴓ ᵬᵭᵮᵯᵰᵱᵲᵳ ᵴᵵᵶᵺᵻᵼᵽᵾᵿᶀᶁᶂ ᶃᶄᶅᶆᶇᶈᶉᶊᶋᶌᶍᶎ ᶏᶐᶑᶒᶓᶔᶕᶖᶗᶘᶙᶚẜẝỾỿ ⱠⱡⱢⱣⱤⱥⱦⱧⱨⱩⱪⱫⱬⱮ ⱱⱲⱳⱴⱸⱹⱺⱾⱿꜮꜯꜺ ꜻꜾꜿꝀꝁꝂꝃꝄꝅꝈꝉ ꝊꝋꝌꝍꝐꝑꝒꝓꝔꝕ ꝖꝗꝘꝙꝞꝟꝤꝥꝦꝧ. Good luck! – tchrist Apr 15 '11 at 04:07
this for me looks the better method. I am going to try it – The Mask Jul 03 '11 at 00:19

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 22 '10 at 18:50

Complete working code. I know this is long, but it's a sure-shot way used by Wordpress.

<?php

function seems_utf8($str) 
{
    $length = strlen($str);
    for ($i=0; $i < $length; $i++) {
        $c = ord($str[$i]);
        if ($c < 0x80) $n = 0; # 0bbbbbbb
        elseif (($c & 0xE0) == 0xC0) $n=1; # 110bbbbb
        elseif (($c & 0xF0) == 0xE0) $n=2; # 1110bbbb
        elseif (($c & 0xF8) == 0xF0) $n=3; # 11110bbb
        elseif (($c & 0xFC) == 0xF8) $n=4; # 111110bb
        elseif (($c & 0xFE) == 0xFC) $n=5; # 1111110b
        else return false; # Does not match any model
        for ($j=0; $j<$n; $j++) { # n bytes matching 10bbbbbb follow ?
            if ((++$i == $length) || ((ord($str[$i]) & 0xC0) != 0x80))
                return false;
        }
    }
    return true;
}

/**
 * Converts all accent characters to ASCII characters.
 *
 * If there are no accent characters, then the string given is just returned.
 *
 * @param string $string Text that might have accent characters
 * @return string Filtered string with replaced "nice" characters.
 */
function remove_accents($string) {
    if ( !preg_match('/[\x80-\xff]/', $string) )
        return $string;

    if (seems_utf8($string)) {
        $chars = array(
        // Decompositions for Latin-1 Supplement
        chr(195).chr(128) => 'A', chr(195).chr(129) => 'A',
        chr(195).chr(130) => 'A', chr(195).chr(131) => 'A',
        chr(195).chr(132) => 'A', chr(195).chr(133) => 'A',
        chr(195).chr(135) => 'C', chr(195).chr(136) => 'E',
        chr(195).chr(137) => 'E', chr(195).chr(138) => 'E',
        chr(195).chr(139) => 'E', chr(195).chr(140) => 'I',
        chr(195).chr(141) => 'I', chr(195).chr(142) => 'I',
        chr(195).chr(143) => 'I', chr(195).chr(145) => 'N',
        chr(195).chr(146) => 'O', chr(195).chr(147) => 'O',
        chr(195).chr(148) => 'O', chr(195).chr(149) => 'O',
        chr(195).chr(150) => 'O', chr(195).chr(153) => 'U',
        chr(195).chr(154) => 'U', chr(195).chr(155) => 'U',
        chr(195).chr(156) => 'U', chr(195).chr(157) => 'Y',
        chr(195).chr(159) => 's', chr(195).chr(160) => 'a',
        chr(195).chr(161) => 'a', chr(195).chr(162) => 'a',
        chr(195).chr(163) => 'a', chr(195).chr(164) => 'a',
        chr(195).chr(165) => 'a', chr(195).chr(167) => 'c',
        chr(195).chr(168) => 'e', chr(195).chr(169) => 'e',
        chr(195).chr(170) => 'e', chr(195).chr(171) => 'e',
        chr(195).chr(172) => 'i', chr(195).chr(173) => 'i',
        chr(195).chr(174) => 'i', chr(195).chr(175) => 'i',
        chr(195).chr(177) => 'n', chr(195).chr(178) => 'o',
        chr(195).chr(179) => 'o', chr(195).chr(180) => 'o',
        chr(195).chr(181) => 'o', chr(195).chr(182) => 'o',
        chr(195).chr(182) => 'o', chr(195).chr(185) => 'u',
        chr(195).chr(186) => 'u', chr(195).chr(187) => 'u',
        chr(195).chr(188) => 'u', chr(195).chr(189) => 'y',
        chr(195).chr(191) => 'y',
        // Decompositions for Latin Extended-A
        chr(196).chr(128) => 'A', chr(196).chr(129) => 'a',
        chr(196).chr(130) => 'A', chr(196).chr(131) => 'a',
        chr(196).chr(132) => 'A', chr(196).chr(133) => 'a',
        chr(196).chr(134) => 'C', chr(196).chr(135) => 'c',
        chr(196).chr(136) => 'C', chr(196).chr(137) => 'c',
        chr(196).chr(138) => 'C', chr(196).chr(139) => 'c',
        chr(196).chr(140) => 'C', chr(196).chr(141) => 'c',
        chr(196).chr(142) => 'D', chr(196).chr(143) => 'd',
        chr(196).chr(144) => 'D', chr(196).chr(145) => 'd',
        chr(196).chr(146) => 'E', chr(196).chr(147) => 'e',
        chr(196).chr(148) => 'E', chr(196).chr(149) => 'e',
        chr(196).chr(150) => 'E', chr(196).chr(151) => 'e',
        chr(196).chr(152) => 'E', chr(196).chr(153) => 'e',
        chr(196).chr(154) => 'E', chr(196).chr(155) => 'e',
        chr(196).chr(156) => 'G', chr(196).chr(157) => 'g',
        chr(196).chr(158) => 'G', chr(196).chr(159) => 'g',
        chr(196).chr(160) => 'G', chr(196).chr(161) => 'g',
        chr(196).chr(162) => 'G', chr(196).chr(163) => 'g',
        chr(196).chr(164) => 'H', chr(196).chr(165) => 'h',
        chr(196).chr(166) => 'H', chr(196).chr(167) => 'h',
        chr(196).chr(168) => 'I', chr(196).chr(169) => 'i',
        chr(196).chr(170) => 'I', chr(196).chr(171) => 'i',
        chr(196).chr(172) => 'I', chr(196).chr(173) => 'i',
        chr(196).chr(174) => 'I', chr(196).chr(175) => 'i',
        chr(196).chr(176) => 'I', chr(196).chr(177) => 'i',
        chr(196).chr(178) => 'IJ',chr(196).chr(179) => 'ij',
        chr(196).chr(180) => 'J', chr(196).chr(181) => 'j',
        chr(196).chr(182) => 'K', chr(196).chr(183) => 'k',
        chr(196).chr(184) => 'k', chr(196).chr(185) => 'L',
        chr(196).chr(186) => 'l', chr(196).chr(187) => 'L',
        chr(196).chr(188) => 'l', chr(196).chr(189) => 'L',
        chr(196).chr(190) => 'l', chr(196).chr(191) => 'L',
        chr(197).chr(128) => 'l', chr(197).chr(129) => 'L',
        chr(197).chr(130) => 'l', chr(197).chr(131) => 'N',
        chr(197).chr(132) => 'n', chr(197).chr(133) => 'N',
        chr(197).chr(134) => 'n', chr(197).chr(135) => 'N',
        chr(197).chr(136) => 'n', chr(197).chr(137) => 'N',
        chr(197).chr(138) => 'n', chr(197).chr(139) => 'N',
        chr(197).chr(140) => 'O', chr(197).chr(141) => 'o',
        chr(197).chr(142) => 'O', chr(197).chr(143) => 'o',
        chr(197).chr(144) => 'O', chr(197).chr(145) => 'o',
        chr(197).chr(146) => 'OE',chr(197).chr(147) => 'oe',
        chr(197).chr(148) => 'R',chr(197).chr(149) => 'r',
        chr(197).chr(150) => 'R',chr(197).chr(151) => 'r',
        chr(197).chr(152) => 'R',chr(197).chr(153) => 'r',
        chr(197).chr(154) => 'S',chr(197).chr(155) => 's',
        chr(197).chr(156) => 'S',chr(197).chr(157) => 's',
        chr(197).chr(158) => 'S',chr(197).chr(159) => 's',
        chr(197).chr(160) => 'S', chr(197).chr(161) => 's',
        chr(197).chr(162) => 'T', chr(197).chr(163) => 't',
        chr(197).chr(164) => 'T', chr(197).chr(165) => 't',
        chr(197).chr(166) => 'T', chr(197).chr(167) => 't',
        chr(197).chr(168) => 'U', chr(197).chr(169) => 'u',
        chr(197).chr(170) => 'U', chr(197).chr(171) => 'u',
        chr(197).chr(172) => 'U', chr(197).chr(173) => 'u',
        chr(197).chr(174) => 'U', chr(197).chr(175) => 'u',
        chr(197).chr(176) => 'U', chr(197).chr(177) => 'u',
        chr(197).chr(178) => 'U', chr(197).chr(179) => 'u',
        chr(197).chr(180) => 'W', chr(197).chr(181) => 'w',
        chr(197).chr(182) => 'Y', chr(197).chr(183) => 'y',
        chr(197).chr(184) => 'Y', chr(197).chr(185) => 'Z',
        chr(197).chr(186) => 'z', chr(197).chr(187) => 'Z',
        chr(197).chr(188) => 'z', chr(197).chr(189) => 'Z',
        chr(197).chr(190) => 'z', chr(197).chr(191) => 's',
        // Euro Sign
        chr(226).chr(130).chr(172) => 'E',
        // GBP (Pound) Sign
        chr(194).chr(163) => '');

        $string = strtr($string, $chars);
    } else {
        // Assume ISO-8859-1 if not UTF-8
        $chars['in'] = chr(128).chr(131).chr(138).chr(142).chr(154).chr(158)
            .chr(159).chr(162).chr(165).chr(181).chr(192).chr(193).chr(194)
            .chr(195).chr(196).chr(197).chr(199).chr(200).chr(201).chr(202)
            .chr(203).chr(204).chr(205).chr(206).chr(207).chr(209).chr(210)
            .chr(211).chr(212).chr(213).chr(214).chr(216).chr(217).chr(218)
            .chr(219).chr(220).chr(221).chr(224).chr(225).chr(226).chr(227)
            .chr(228).chr(229).chr(231).chr(232).chr(233).chr(234).chr(235)
            .chr(236).chr(237).chr(238).chr(239).chr(241).chr(242).chr(243)
            .chr(244).chr(245).chr(246).chr(248).chr(249).chr(250).chr(251)
            .chr(252).chr(253).chr(255);

        $chars['out'] = "EfSZszYcYuAAAAAACEEEEIIIINOOOOOOUUUUYaaaaaaceeeeiiiinoooooouuuuyy";

        $string = strtr($string, $chars['in'], $chars['out']);
        $double_chars['in'] = array(chr(140), chr(156), chr(198), chr(208), chr(222), chr(223), chr(230), chr(240), chr(254));
        $double_chars['out'] = array('OE', 'oe', 'AE', 'DH', 'TH', 'ss', 'ae', 'dh', 'th');
        $string = str_replace($double_chars['in'], $double_chars['out'], $string);
    }

    return $string;
}


$str = "ÈâuÑ";
echo remove_accents($str); // Output: EauN
?>

This isn't complete. It doesn't replace the accents when they're in decomposed form. — Artefacto, Aug 22 '10 at 18:56
@Mark I updated my answer. The decomposed form of "ÈâuÑ foo bar 88." is "ÈâuÑ foo bar 88.". Depends on your font, but they should look the same. Here is an example of your function failing: http://codepad.viper-7.com/FAvL9I — Artefacto, Aug 22 '10 at 19:02
@Mark Yes, that's it. @shamittomar Granted, it's much less common. But if he wants be sure the result won't have any accents, this is not the way to go. — Artefacto, Aug 22 '10 at 19:34

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 05 '15 at 19:48

I wrote this in php. I hope it helps someone. It avoids me having to use iconv.

//
// This function takes a string with international accented characters and anglicizes it. 
// For example, "Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson" becomes "Hafthor Julius Bjornsson"
//

function anglicize($string) {
$accented =    array("À","Á","Â","Ã","Ä","Å","Æ", "Ç","È","É","Ê","Ë","Ì","Í","Î","Ï","Ð","Ñ","Ò","Ó","Ô","Õ","Ö","Ø","Ù","Ú","Û","Ü","Þ", "ß", "à","á","â","ã","ä","å","æ", "ç","è","é","ê","ë","ì","í","î","ï","ð","ñ","ò","ó","ô","õ","ö","ø","ù","ú","û","ü","þ", "Ā","ā","Ă","ă","Ą","ą","Ć","ć","Ĉ","ĉ","Ċ","ċ","Č","č","Ď","ď","Đ","đ","Ē","ē","Ĕ","ĕ","Ė","ė","Ę","ę","Ě","ě","Ĝ","ĝ","Ğ","ğ","Ġ","ġ","Ģ","ģ","Ĥ","ĥ","Ħ","ħ","Ĩ","ĩ","Ī","ī","Ĭ","ĭ","Į","į","İ","ı","Ĳ", "ĳ", "Ĵ","ĵ","Ķ","ķ","Ĺ","ĺ","Ļ","ļ","Ľ","ľ","Ŀ","ŀ","Ł","ł","Ń","ń","Ņ","ņ","Ň","ň","ŉ","Ō","ō","Ŏ","ŏ","Ő","ő","Œ", "œ", "Ŕ","ŕ","Ŗ","ŗ","Ř","ř","Ś","ś","Ŝ","ŝ","Ş","ş","Š","š","Ţ","ţ","Ť","ť","Ŧ","ŧ","Ũ","ũ","Ū","ū","Ŭ","ŭ","Ů","ů","Ű","ű","Ų","ų","ſ","ƒ","Ǆ", "ǅ", "ǆ", "Ǉ", "ǈ", "ǉ", "Ǌ", "ǋ", "ǌ", "Ǳ", "ǲ", "ǳ", "Ș","ș","Ț","ț","Ḁ","ḁ","Ḃ","ḃ","Ḅ","ḅ","Ḇ","ḇ","Ḉ","ḉ","Ḋ","ḋ","Ḍ","ḍ","Ḏ","ḏ","Ḑ","ḑ","Ḓ","ḓ","Ḕ","ḕ","Ḗ","ḗ","Ḙ","ḙ","Ḛ","ḛ","Ḝ","ḝ","Ḟ","ḟ","Ḡ","ḡ","Ḣ","ḣ","Ḥ","ḥ","Ḧ","ḧ","Ḩ","ḩ","Ḫ","ḫ","Ḭ","ḭ","Ḯ","ḯ","Ḱ","ḱ","Ḳ","ḳ","Ḵ","ḵ","Ḷ","ḷ","Ḹ","ḹ","Ḻ","ḻ","Ḽ","ḽ","Ḿ","ḿ","Ṁ","ṁ","Ṃ","ṃ","Ṅ","ṅ","Ṇ","ṇ","Ṉ","ṉ","Ṋ","ṋ","Ṍ","ṍ","Ṏ","ṏ","Ṑ","ṑ","Ṓ","ṓ","Ṕ","ṕ","Ṗ","ṗ","Ṙ","ṙ","Ṛ","ṛ","Ṝ","ṝ","Ṟ","ṟ","Ṡ","ṡ","Ṣ","ṣ","Ṥ","ṥ","Ṧ","ṧ","Ṩ","ṩ","Ṫ","ṫ","Ṭ","ṭ","Ṯ","ṯ","Ṱ","ṱ","Ṳ","ṳ","Ṵ","ṵ","Ṷ","ṷ","Ṹ","ṹ","Ṻ","ṻ","Ṽ","ṽ","Ṿ","ṿ","Ẁ","ẁ","Ẃ","ẃ","Ẅ","ẅ","Ẇ","ẇ","Ẉ","ẉ","Ẋ","ẋ","Ẍ","ẍ","Ẏ","ẏ","Ẑ","ẑ","Ẓ","ẓ","Ẕ","ẕ","ẖ","ẗ","ẘ","ẙ","ẚ","ẞ","Ạ","ạ","Ả","ả","Ấ","ấ","Ầ","ầ","Ẩ","ẩ","Ẫ","ẫ","Ậ","ậ","Ắ","ắ","Ằ","ằ","Ẳ","ẳ","Ẵ","ẵ","Ặ","ặ","Ẹ","ẹ","Ẻ","ẻ","Ẽ","ẽ","Ế","ế","Ề","ề","Ể","ể","Ễ","ễ","Ệ","ệ","Ỉ","ỉ","Ị","ị","Ọ","ọ","Ỏ","ỏ","Ố","ố","Ồ","ồ","Ổ","ổ","Ỗ","ỗ","Ộ","ộ","Ớ","ớ","Ờ","ờ","Ở","ở","Ỡ","ỡ","Ợ","ợ","Ụ","ụ","Ủ","ủ","Ứ","ứ","Ừ","ừ","Ử","ử","Ữ","ữ","Ự","ự","Ỳ","ỳ","Ỵ","ỵ","Ỷ","ỷ","Ỹ","ỹ");
$nonaccented = array("A","A","A","A","A","A","AE","C","E","E","E","E","I","I","I","I","D","N","O","O","O","O","O","O","U","U","U","U","Th","ss","a","a","a","a","a","a","ae","c","e","e","e","e","i","i","i","i","d","n","o","o","o","o","o","o","u","u","u","u","th","A","a","A","a","A","a","C","c","C","c","C","c","C","c","D","d","D","d","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","G","g","G","g","G","g","G","g","H","h","H","h","I","i","I","i","I","i","I","i","I","i","IJ","ij","J","j","K","k","L","l","L","l","L","l","L","l","L","l","N","n","N","n","N","n","n","O","o","O","o","O","o","OE","oe","R","r","R","r","R","r","S","s","S","s","S","s","S","s","T","t","T","t","T","t","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","s","f","DZ","Dz","dz","LJ","Lj","lj","NJ","Nj","nj","DZ","Dz","dz","S","s","T","t","A","a","B","b","B","b","B","b","C","c","D","d","D","d","D","d","D","d","D","d","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","F","f","G","g","H","h","H","h","H","h","H","h","H","h","I","i","I","i","K","k","K","k","K","k","L","l","L","l","L","l","L","l","M","m","M","m","M","m","N","n","N","n","N","n","N","n","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","P","p","P","p","R","r","R","r","R","r","R","r","S","s","S","s","S","s","S","s","S","s","T","t","T","t","T","t","T","t","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","V","v","V","v","W","w","W","w","W","w","W","w","W","w","X","x","X","x","Y","y","Z","z","Z","z","Z","z","h","t","w","y","a","B","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","A","a","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","E","e","I","i","I","i","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","O","o","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","U","u","Y","y","Y","y","Y","y","Y","y");
return str_replace($accented,$nonaccented,$string);
}

Billy · Answer 4 · 2011-04-15T03:48:05.737

-1

Or try this function (with str_replace and exhaustive accents table): http://idilix.net/php-strip-accents.php

edited Apr 15 '11 at 03:48

answered Apr 15 '11 at 03:37

Billy

11
1

5

That isn’t exhaustive: it’s ridiculously and embarrassingly naïve! First, there are 756 Latin letters alone with "accents". Add another thousand for non-Latin letters. Second, it doesn’t use any kind of decomposition, so is fundmentally broken. Third, there are 237 Latin letters alone that don’t **HAVE** decompositions to fix, or about double that if you count non-Latin. There is a right way to do this, but it is such an evil thing to do I won’t tell you how. Learn to use Unicode, not destroy it. – tchrist Apr 15 '11 at 04:13

Remove accents without using iconv

4 Answers4

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