Efficiently replace all accented characters in a string?

Asked 13/11, 2008 at 13:40 Answered 19/1, 2023 at 15:59

Solved javascript sorting string collation

134

For a poor man's implementation of near-collation-correct sorting on the client side I need a JavaScript function that does efficient single character replacement in a string.

Here is what I mean (note that this applies to German text, other languages sort differently):

native sorting gets it wrong: a b c o u z ä ö ü
collation-correct would be:   a ä b c o ö u ü z

Basically, I need all occurrences of "ä" of a given string replaced with "a" (and so on). This way the result of native sorting would be very close to what a user would expect (or what a database would return).

Other languages have facilities to do just that: Python supplies str.translate(), in Perl there is tr/…/…/, XPath has a function translate(), ColdFusion has ReplaceList(). But what about JavaScript?

Here is what I have right now.

// s would be a rather short string (something like 
// 200 characters at max, most of the time much less)
function makeSortString(s) {
  var translate = {
    "ä": "a", "ö": "o", "ü": "u",
    "Ä": "A", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U"   // probably more to come
  };
  var translate_re = /[öäüÖÄÜ]/g;
  return ( s.replace(translate_re, function(match) { 
    return translate[match]; 
  }) );
}

For starters, I don't like the fact that the regex is rebuilt every time I call the function. I guess a closure can help in this regard, but I don't seem to get the hang of it for some reason.

Can someone think of something more efficient?

Answers below fall in two categories:

String replacement functions of varying degrees of completeness and efficiency (what I was originally asking about)
A late mention of String#localeCompare, which is now widely supported among JS engines (not so much at the time of the question) and could solve this category of problem much more elegantly.

Isogonic answered 13/11, 2008 at 13:40 Comment(12)

You are wrong in your assumption that a user expects "ä" to be sorted with "a". The Swedish alphabet has 29 letters: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzåäö and so does the Danish/Norwegian: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzæøå. The expected order is: "Apelsin", "Banan", "Äpple". – Abatement 9/3, 2009 at 19:14

I know. The solution was intended to sort German text. Even there it is not correct, but good enough for the use case. This question never was meant to be the search for the "solves all problems" algorithm. – Isogonic 9/3, 2009 at 19:24

I rephrased the question a bit to make that clear right from the start. – Isogonic 9/3, 2009 at 19:34

@Tomalak: I found your question when I was following a link from another question about "u" and "ü" and had to object. But since you now have clarified that it was for German, I have nothing further to object. – Abatement 9/3, 2009 at 20:48

@some: I prefer a short discussion in the comments over a down-vote any time. Unfortunately there are people here that down vote first and ask questions later (if at all). Consequence: Your comment was appreciated. :) – Isogonic 9/3, 2009 at 21:24

@Tomalak:Unfortunately there are people who downvote for no apparent reason at all,even correct answers and crystal clear questions… I wonder if the noticed that they themselves looses 1 point?I prefer to leave a comment instead so the author can make clarifications/corrections. IMHO that is better. – Abatement 9/3, 2009 at 21:53

Just so you know, I have a fork of tablesorter in which I've modified the original sortLocaleCompare option to replace these accented strings automatically; please see this demo for more details. If that still doesn't work for you, then check out this demo that replaces the default text sorter with sugar.js. – Bases 18/12, 2013 at 20:47

Thanks @Mottie. (I believe sortLocaleCompare did not even exist when I first wrote that question.) – Isogonic 19/12, 2013 at 6:19

Actually it did exist in v2.0.5 (undocumented) and all it did was return a.localeCompare(b); within a sort. – Bases 20/12, 2013 at 7:31

see a more recent solution https://mcmap.net/q/20551/-remove-accents-diacritics-in-a-string-in-javascript – Africander 16/9, 2014 at 14:52

There is NPM package that does just this, github.com/andrewrk/node-diacritics. – Kamikamikaze 3/4, 2016 at 19:11

Does this answer your question? Remove accents/diacritics in a string in JavaScript – Extensible 6/8, 2020 at 3:53

I can't speak to what you are trying to do specifically with the function itself, but if you don't like the regex being built every time, here are two solutions and some caveats about each.

Here is one way to do this:

function makeSortString(s) {
  if(!makeSortString.translate_re) makeSortString.translate_re = /[öäüÖÄÜ]/g;
  var translate = {
    "ä": "a", "ö": "o", "ü": "u",
    "Ä": "A", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U"   // probably more to come
  };
  return ( s.replace(makeSortString.translate_re, function(match) { 
    return translate[match]; 
  }) );
}

This will obviously make the regex a property of the function itself. The only thing you may not like about this (or you may, I guess it depends) is that the regex can now be modified outside of the function's body. So, someone could do this to modify the interally-used regex:

makeSortString.translate_re = /[a-z]/g;

So, there is that option.

One way to get a closure, and thus prevent someone from modifying the regex, would be to define this as an anonymous function assignment like this:

var makeSortString = (function() {
  var translate_re = /[öäüÖÄÜ]/g;
  return function(s) {
    var translate = {
      "ä": "a", "ö": "o", "ü": "u",
      "Ä": "A", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U"   // probably more to come
    };
    return ( s.replace(translate_re, function(match) { 
      return translate[match]; 
    }) );
  }
})();

Hopefully this is useful to you.

UPDATE: It's early and I don't know why I didn't see the obvious before, but it might also be useful to put you translate object in a closure as well:

var makeSortString = (function() {
  var translate_re = /[öäüÖÄÜ]/g;
  var translate = {
    "ä": "a", "ö": "o", "ü": "u",
    "Ä": "A", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U"   // probably more to come
  };
  return function(s) {
    return ( s.replace(translate_re, function(match) { 
      return translate[match]; 
    }) );
  }
})();

Nicely answered 13/11, 2008 at 15:6 Comment(12)

What I'm trying to do is make the sorting of the jQuery tablesorter plugin work correctly for table data in German. The plugin can take an user-defined function to extract the string to sort on, which is what I have to do or the resulting sort order will be wrong. – Isogonic 13/11, 2008 at 15:18

Is this function really that inefficient? What have you done as far as testing? – Nicely 13/11, 2008 at 15:30

I did not mean to say my implementation was inefficient. It's close to the most efficient way of doing it that I can think of. But I can't think of everything, so I hoped there was some really clever way of string manipulation that I was unaware of. – Isogonic 13/11, 2008 at 15:37

I see - well, I think your solution is sufficient; because I could see a use for this function in the long term, I did some basic testing. I did 5000 iterations on a string of 200 characters that contained at least one of these characters once every 8 characters and it took around 500 ms. – Nicely 13/11, 2008 at 16:20

BTW, that testing was done in FF. In Chrome, it ran about the same; since Chrome's JS engine (V8) is quicker, generally speaking, it might be worth noting this fact, FWIW. – Nicely 13/11, 2008 at 16:36

Thanks for your time, greatly appreciated. I will do some testing of my own (but not today, it's 6 PM here), and post my findings here. – Isogonic 13/11, 2008 at 16:55

Actually I have never gotten to writing a test case to compare results. I've left this open as a reminder to do it someday, but it's not fair to not accept the answer I have used so I do it now. Sorry for delaying so long. – Isogonic 4/3, 2009 at 18:12

No worries - I hope I was helpful! – Nicely 4/3, 2009 at 18:33

You were. ;-) I posted what I have working right now, maybe someone else finds it useful. – Isogonic 5/3, 2009 at 11:29

I made use of this person's answer to a similar problem: https://mcmap.net/q/20551/-remove-accents-diacritics-in-a-string-in-javascript – Unteach 6/3, 2013 at 21:5

Charset for Hungarian regexp:

var translate_re = /[éáűőúöüóíÉÁŰPŐÚÖÜÓÍ]/g;   var translate = {     "é": "e", "á": "a", "ű": "u", "ő": "o", "ú": "u", "ö": "o", "ü": "u", "ó": "o", "í": "i",     "É": "E", "Á": "A", "Ű": "U", "Ő": "O", "Ú": "U", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U", "Ó": "O", "Í": "I"   };

– Titanate 10/4, 2013 at 8:55

Charset for Romanian regexp:

var translate_re = /[șțăîâȘȚĂÎÂ]/g; var translate = { "ș": "s", "ț": "t", "ă": "a", "î": "i", "â": "a", "Ș": "S", "Ț": "T", "Ă": "A", "Î": "I", "Â": "A" };

– Applewhite 1/6, 2015 at 9:48

127

Here is a more complete version based on the Unicode standard.

var Latinise={};Latinise.latin_map={"Á":"A",
"Ă":"A",
"Ắ":"A",
"Ặ":"A",
"Ằ":"A",
"Ẳ":"A",
"Ẵ":"A",
"Ǎ":"A",
"Â":"A",
"Ấ":"A",
"Ậ":"A",
"Ầ":"A",
"Ẩ":"A",
"Ẫ":"A",
"Ä":"A",
"Ǟ":"A",
"Ȧ":"A",
"Ǡ":"A",
"Ạ":"A",
"Ȁ":"A",
"À":"A",
"Ả":"A",
"Ȃ":"A",
"Ā":"A",
"Ą":"A",
"Å":"A",
"Ǻ":"A",
"Ḁ":"A",
"Ⱥ":"A",
"Ã":"A",
"Ꜳ":"AA",
"Æ":"AE",
"Ǽ":"AE",
"Ǣ":"AE",
"Ꜵ":"AO",
"Ꜷ":"AU",
"Ꜹ":"AV",
"Ꜻ":"AV",
"Ꜽ":"AY",
"Ḃ":"B",
"Ḅ":"B",
"Ɓ":"B",
"Ḇ":"B",
"Ƀ":"B",
"Ƃ":"B",
"Ć":"C",
"Č":"C",
"Ç":"C",
"Ḉ":"C",
"Ĉ":"C",
"Ċ":"C",
"Ƈ":"C",
"Ȼ":"C",
"Ď":"D",
"Ḑ":"D",
"Ḓ":"D",
"Ḋ":"D",
"Ḍ":"D",
"Ɗ":"D",
"Ḏ":"D",
"ǲ":"D",
"ǅ":"D",
"Đ":"D",
"Ƌ":"D",
"Ǳ":"DZ",
"Ǆ":"DZ",
"É":"E",
"Ĕ":"E",
"Ě":"E",
"Ȩ":"E",
"Ḝ":"E",
"Ê":"E",
"Ế":"E",
"Ệ":"E",
"Ề":"E",
"Ể":"E",
"Ễ":"E",
"Ḙ":"E",
"Ë":"E",
"Ė":"E",
"Ẹ":"E",
"Ȅ":"E",
"È":"E",
"Ẻ":"E",
"Ȇ":"E",
"Ē":"E",
"Ḗ":"E",
"Ḕ":"E",
"Ę":"E",
"Ɇ":"E",
"Ẽ":"E",
"Ḛ":"E",
"Ꝫ":"ET",
"Ḟ":"F",
"Ƒ":"F",
"Ǵ":"G",
"Ğ":"G",
"Ǧ":"G",
"Ģ":"G",
"Ĝ":"G",
"Ġ":"G",
"Ɠ":"G",
"Ḡ":"G",
"Ǥ":"G",
"Ḫ":"H",
"Ȟ":"H",
"Ḩ":"H",
"Ĥ":"H",
"Ⱨ":"H",
"Ḧ":"H",
"Ḣ":"H",
"Ḥ":"H",
"Ħ":"H",
"Í":"I",
"Ĭ":"I",
"Ǐ":"I",
"Î":"I",
"Ï":"I",
"Ḯ":"I",
"İ":"I",
"Ị":"I",
"Ȉ":"I",
"Ì":"I",
"Ỉ":"I",
"Ȋ":"I",
"Ī":"I",
"Į":"I",
"Ɨ":"I",
"Ĩ":"I",
"Ḭ":"I",
"Ꝺ":"D",
"Ꝼ":"F",
"Ᵹ":"G",
"Ꞃ":"R",
"Ꞅ":"S",
"Ꞇ":"T",
"Ꝭ":"IS",
"Ĵ":"J",
"Ɉ":"J",
"Ḱ":"K",
"Ǩ":"K",
"Ķ":"K",
"Ⱪ":"K",
"Ꝃ":"K",
"Ḳ":"K",
"Ƙ":"K",
"Ḵ":"K",
"Ꝁ":"K",
"Ꝅ":"K",
"Ĺ":"L",
"Ƚ":"L",
"Ľ":"L",
"Ļ":"L",
"Ḽ":"L",
"Ḷ":"L",
"Ḹ":"L",
"Ⱡ":"L",
"Ꝉ":"L",
"Ḻ":"L",
"Ŀ":"L",
"Ɫ":"L",
"ǈ":"L",
"Ł":"L",
"Ǉ":"LJ",
"Ḿ":"M",
"Ṁ":"M",
"Ṃ":"M",
"Ɱ":"M",
"Ń":"N",
"Ň":"N",
"Ņ":"N",
"Ṋ":"N",
"Ṅ":"N",
"Ṇ":"N",
"Ǹ":"N",
"Ɲ":"N",
"Ṉ":"N",
"Ƞ":"N",
"ǋ":"N",
"Ñ":"N",
"Ǌ":"NJ",
"Ó":"O",
"Ŏ":"O",
"Ǒ":"O",
"Ô":"O",
"Ố":"O",
"Ộ":"O",
"Ồ":"O",
"Ổ":"O",
"Ỗ":"O",
"Ö":"O",
"Ȫ":"O",
"Ȯ":"O",
"Ȱ":"O",
"Ọ":"O",
"Ő":"O",
"Ȍ":"O",
"Ò":"O",
"Ỏ":"O",
"Ơ":"O",
"Ớ":"O",
"Ợ":"O",
"Ờ":"O",
"Ở":"O",
"Ỡ":"O",
"Ȏ":"O",
"Ꝋ":"O",
"Ꝍ":"O",
"Ō":"O",
"Ṓ":"O",
"Ṑ":"O",
"Ɵ":"O",
"Ǫ":"O",
"Ǭ":"O",
"Ø":"O",
"Ǿ":"O",
"Õ":"O",
"Ṍ":"O",
"Ṏ":"O",
"Ȭ":"O",
"Ƣ":"OI",
"Ꝏ":"OO",
"Ɛ":"E",
"Ɔ":"O",
"Ȣ":"OU",
"Ṕ":"P",
"Ṗ":"P",
"Ꝓ":"P",
"Ƥ":"P",
"Ꝕ":"P",
"Ᵽ":"P",
"Ꝑ":"P",
"Ꝙ":"Q",
"Ꝗ":"Q",
"Ŕ":"R",
"Ř":"R",
"Ŗ":"R",
"Ṙ":"R",
"Ṛ":"R",
"Ṝ":"R",
"Ȑ":"R",
"Ȓ":"R",
"Ṟ":"R",
"Ɍ":"R",
"Ɽ":"R",
"Ꜿ":"C",
"Ǝ":"E",
"Ś":"S",
"Ṥ":"S",
"Š":"S",
"Ṧ":"S",
"Ş":"S",
"Ŝ":"S",
"Ș":"S",
"Ṡ":"S",
"Ṣ":"S",
"Ṩ":"S",
"Ť":"T",
"Ţ":"T",
"Ṱ":"T",
"Ț":"T",
"Ⱦ":"T",
"Ṫ":"T",
"Ṭ":"T",
"Ƭ":"T",
"Ṯ":"T",
"Ʈ":"T",
"Ŧ":"T",
"Ɐ":"A",
"Ꞁ":"L",
"Ɯ":"M",
"Ʌ":"V",
"Ꜩ":"TZ",
"Ú":"U",
"Ŭ":"U",
"Ǔ":"U",
"Û":"U",
"Ṷ":"U",
"Ü":"U",
"Ǘ":"U",
"Ǚ":"U",
"Ǜ":"U",
"Ǖ":"U",
"Ṳ":"U",
"Ụ":"U",
"Ű":"U",
"Ȕ":"U",
"Ù":"U",
"Ủ":"U",
"Ư":"U",
"Ứ":"U",
"Ự":"U",
"Ừ":"U",
"Ử":"U",
"Ữ":"U",
"Ȗ":"U",
"Ū":"U",
"Ṻ":"U",
"Ų":"U",
"Ů":"U",
"Ũ":"U",
"Ṹ":"U",
"Ṵ":"U",
"Ꝟ":"V",
"Ṿ":"V",
"Ʋ":"V",
"Ṽ":"V",
"Ꝡ":"VY",
"Ẃ":"W",
"Ŵ":"W",
"Ẅ":"W",
"Ẇ":"W",
"Ẉ":"W",
"Ẁ":"W",
"Ⱳ":"W",
"Ẍ":"X",
"Ẋ":"X",
"Ý":"Y",
"Ŷ":"Y",
"Ÿ":"Y",
"Ẏ":"Y",
"Ỵ":"Y",
"Ỳ":"Y",
"Ƴ":"Y",
"Ỷ":"Y",
"Ỿ":"Y",
"Ȳ":"Y",
"Ɏ":"Y",
"Ỹ":"Y",
"Ź":"Z",
"Ž":"Z",
"Ẑ":"Z",
"Ⱬ":"Z",
"Ż":"Z",
"Ẓ":"Z",
"Ȥ":"Z",
"Ẕ":"Z",
"Ƶ":"Z",
"Ĳ":"IJ",
"Œ":"OE",
"ᴀ":"A",
"ᴁ":"AE",
"ʙ":"B",
"ᴃ":"B",
"ᴄ":"C",
"ᴅ":"D",
"ᴇ":"E",
"ꜰ":"F",
"ɢ":"G",
"ʛ":"G",
"ʜ":"H",
"ɪ":"I",
"ʁ":"R",
"ᴊ":"J",
"ᴋ":"K",
"ʟ":"L",
"ᴌ":"L",
"ᴍ":"M",
"ɴ":"N",
"ᴏ":"O",
"ɶ":"OE",
"ᴐ":"O",
"ᴕ":"OU",
"ᴘ":"P",
"ʀ":"R",
"ᴎ":"N",
"ᴙ":"R",
"ꜱ":"S",
"ᴛ":"T",
"ⱻ":"E",
"ᴚ":"R",
"ᴜ":"U",
"ᴠ":"V",
"ᴡ":"W",
"ʏ":"Y",
"ᴢ":"Z",
"á":"a",
"ă":"a",
"ắ":"a",
"ặ":"a",
"ằ":"a",
"ẳ":"a",
"ẵ":"a",
"ǎ":"a",
"â":"a",
"ấ":"a",
"ậ":"a",
"ầ":"a",
"ẩ":"a",
"ẫ":"a",
"ä":"a",
"ǟ":"a",
"ȧ":"a",
"ǡ":"a",
"ạ":"a",
"ȁ":"a",
"à":"a",
"ả":"a",
"ȃ":"a",
"ā":"a",
"ą":"a",
"ᶏ":"a",
"ẚ":"a",
"å":"a",
"ǻ":"a",
"ḁ":"a",
"ⱥ":"a",
"ã":"a",
"ꜳ":"aa",
"æ":"ae",
"ǽ":"ae",
"ǣ":"ae",
"ꜵ":"ao",
"ꜷ":"au",
"ꜹ":"av",
"ꜻ":"av",
"ꜽ":"ay",
"ḃ":"b",
"ḅ":"b",
"ɓ":"b",
"ḇ":"b",
"ᵬ":"b",
"ᶀ":"b",
"ƀ":"b",
"ƃ":"b",
"ɵ":"o",
"ć":"c",
"č":"c",
"ç":"c",
"ḉ":"c",
"ĉ":"c",
"ɕ":"c",
"ċ":"c",
"ƈ":"c",
"ȼ":"c",
"ď":"d",
"ḑ":"d",
"ḓ":"d",
"ȡ":"d",
"ḋ":"d",
"ḍ":"d",
"ɗ":"d",
"ᶑ":"d",
"ḏ":"d",
"ᵭ":"d",
"ᶁ":"d",
"đ":"d",
"ɖ":"d",
"ƌ":"d",
"ı":"i",
"ȷ":"j",
"ɟ":"j",
"ʄ":"j",
"ǳ":"dz",
"ǆ":"dz",
"é":"e",
"ĕ":"e",
"ě":"e",
"ȩ":"e",
"ḝ":"e",
"ê":"e",
"ế":"e",
"ệ":"e",
"ề":"e",
"ể":"e",
"ễ":"e",
"ḙ":"e",
"ë":"e",
"ė":"e",
"ẹ":"e",
"ȅ":"e",
"è":"e",
"ẻ":"e",
"ȇ":"e",
"ē":"e",
"ḗ":"e",
"ḕ":"e",
"ⱸ":"e",
"ę":"e",
"ᶒ":"e",
"ɇ":"e",
"ẽ":"e",
"ḛ":"e",
"ꝫ":"et",
"ḟ":"f",
"ƒ":"f",
"ᵮ":"f",
"ᶂ":"f",
"ǵ":"g",
"ğ":"g",
"ǧ":"g",
"ģ":"g",
"ĝ":"g",
"ġ":"g",
"ɠ":"g",
"ḡ":"g",
"ᶃ":"g",
"ǥ":"g",
"ḫ":"h",
"ȟ":"h",
"ḩ":"h",
"ĥ":"h",
"ⱨ":"h",
"ḧ":"h",
"ḣ":"h",
"ḥ":"h",
"ɦ":"h",
"ẖ":"h",
"ħ":"h",
"ƕ":"hv",
"í":"i",
"ĭ":"i",
"ǐ":"i",
"î":"i",
"ï":"i",
"ḯ":"i",
"ị":"i",
"ȉ":"i",
"ì":"i",
"ỉ":"i",
"ȋ":"i",
"ī":"i",
"į":"i",
"ᶖ":"i",
"ɨ":"i",
"ĩ":"i",
"ḭ":"i",
"ꝺ":"d",
"ꝼ":"f",
"ᵹ":"g",
"ꞃ":"r",
"ꞅ":"s",
"ꞇ":"t",
"ꝭ":"is",
"ǰ":"j",
"ĵ":"j",
"ʝ":"j",
"ɉ":"j",
"ḱ":"k",
"ǩ":"k",
"ķ":"k",
"ⱪ":"k",
"ꝃ":"k",
"ḳ":"k",
"ƙ":"k",
"ḵ":"k",
"ᶄ":"k",
"ꝁ":"k",
"ꝅ":"k",
"ĺ":"l",
"ƚ":"l",
"ɬ":"l",
"ľ":"l",
"ļ":"l",
"ḽ":"l",
"ȴ":"l",
"ḷ":"l",
"ḹ":"l",
"ⱡ":"l",
"ꝉ":"l",
"ḻ":"l",
"ŀ":"l",
"ɫ":"l",
"ᶅ":"l",
"ɭ":"l",
"ł":"l",
"ǉ":"lj",
"ſ":"s",
"ẜ":"s",
"ẛ":"s",
"ẝ":"s",
"ḿ":"m",
"ṁ":"m",
"ṃ":"m",
"ɱ":"m",
"ᵯ":"m",
"ᶆ":"m",
"ń":"n",
"ň":"n",
"ņ":"n",
"ṋ":"n",
"ȵ":"n",
"ṅ":"n",
"ṇ":"n",
"ǹ":"n",
"ɲ":"n",
"ṉ":"n",
"ƞ":"n",
"ᵰ":"n",
"ᶇ":"n",
"ɳ":"n",
"ñ":"n",
"ǌ":"nj",
"ó":"o",
"ŏ":"o",
"ǒ":"o",
"ô":"o",
"ố":"o",
"ộ":"o",
"ồ":"o",
"ổ":"o",
"ỗ":"o",
"ö":"o",
"ȫ":"o",
"ȯ":"o",
"ȱ":"o",
"ọ":"o",
"ő":"o",
"ȍ":"o",
"ò":"o",
"ỏ":"o",
"ơ":"o",
"ớ":"o",
"ợ":"o",
"ờ":"o",
"ở":"o",
"ỡ":"o",
"ȏ":"o",
"ꝋ":"o",
"ꝍ":"o",
"ⱺ":"o",
"ō":"o",
"ṓ":"o",
"ṑ":"o",
"ǫ":"o",
"ǭ":"o",
"ø":"o",
"ǿ":"o",
"õ":"o",
"ṍ":"o",
"ṏ":"o",
"ȭ":"o",
"ƣ":"oi",
"ꝏ":"oo",
"ɛ":"e",
"ᶓ":"e",
"ɔ":"o",
"ᶗ":"o",
"ȣ":"ou",
"ṕ":"p",
"ṗ":"p",
"ꝓ":"p",
"ƥ":"p",
"ᵱ":"p",
"ᶈ":"p",
"ꝕ":"p",
"ᵽ":"p",
"ꝑ":"p",
"ꝙ":"q",
"ʠ":"q",
"ɋ":"q",
"ꝗ":"q",
"ŕ":"r",
"ř":"r",
"ŗ":"r",
"ṙ":"r",
"ṛ":"r",
"ṝ":"r",
"ȑ":"r",
"ɾ":"r",
"ᵳ":"r",
"ȓ":"r",
"ṟ":"r",
"ɼ":"r",
"ᵲ":"r",
"ᶉ":"r",
"ɍ":"r",
"ɽ":"r",
"ↄ":"c",
"ꜿ":"c",
"ɘ":"e",
"ɿ":"r",
"ś":"s",
"ṥ":"s",
"š":"s",
"ṧ":"s",
"ş":"s",
"ŝ":"s",
"ș":"s",
"ṡ":"s",
"ṣ":"s",
"ṩ":"s",
"ʂ":"s",
"ᵴ":"s",
"ᶊ":"s",
"ȿ":"s",
"ɡ":"g",
"ᴑ":"o",
"ᴓ":"o",
"ᴝ":"u",
"ť":"t",
"ţ":"t",
"ṱ":"t",
"ț":"t",
"ȶ":"t",
"ẗ":"t",
"ⱦ":"t",
"ṫ":"t",
"ṭ":"t",
"ƭ":"t",
"ṯ":"t",
"ᵵ":"t",
"ƫ":"t",
"ʈ":"t",
"ŧ":"t",
"ᵺ":"th",
"ɐ":"a",
"ᴂ":"ae",
"ǝ":"e",
"ᵷ":"g",
"ɥ":"h",
"ʮ":"h",
"ʯ":"h",
"ᴉ":"i",
"ʞ":"k",
"ꞁ":"l",
"ɯ":"m",
"ɰ":"m",
"ᴔ":"oe",
"ɹ":"r",
"ɻ":"r",
"ɺ":"r",
"ⱹ":"r",
"ʇ":"t",
"ʌ":"v",
"ʍ":"w",
"ʎ":"y",
"ꜩ":"tz",
"ú":"u",
"ŭ":"u",
"ǔ":"u",
"û":"u",
"ṷ":"u",
"ü":"u",
"ǘ":"u",
"ǚ":"u",
"ǜ":"u",
"ǖ":"u",
"ṳ":"u",
"ụ":"u",
"ű":"u",
"ȕ":"u",
"ù":"u",
"ủ":"u",
"ư":"u",
"ứ":"u",
"ự":"u",
"ừ":"u",
"ử":"u",
"ữ":"u",
"ȗ":"u",
"ū":"u",
"ṻ":"u",
"ų":"u",
"ᶙ":"u",
"ů":"u",
"ũ":"u",
"ṹ":"u",
"ṵ":"u",
"ᵫ":"ue",
"ꝸ":"um",
"ⱴ":"v",
"ꝟ":"v",
"ṿ":"v",
"ʋ":"v",
"ᶌ":"v",
"ⱱ":"v",
"ṽ":"v",
"ꝡ":"vy",
"ẃ":"w",
"ŵ":"w",
"ẅ":"w",
"ẇ":"w",
"ẉ":"w",
"ẁ":"w",
"ⱳ":"w",
"ẘ":"w",
"ẍ":"x",
"ẋ":"x",
"ᶍ":"x",
"ý":"y",
"ŷ":"y",
"ÿ":"y",
"ẏ":"y",
"ỵ":"y",
"ỳ":"y",
"ƴ":"y",
"ỷ":"y",
"ỿ":"y",
"ȳ":"y",
"ẙ":"y",
"ɏ":"y",
"ỹ":"y",
"ź":"z",
"ž":"z",
"ẑ":"z",
"ʑ":"z",
"ⱬ":"z",
"ż":"z",
"ẓ":"z",
"ȥ":"z",
"ẕ":"z",
"ᵶ":"z",
"ᶎ":"z",
"ʐ":"z",
"ƶ":"z",
"ɀ":"z",
"ﬀ":"ff",
"ﬃ":"ffi",
"ﬄ":"ffl",
"ﬁ":"fi",
"ﬂ":"fl",
"ĳ":"ij",
"œ":"oe",
"ﬆ":"st",
"ₐ":"a",
"ₑ":"e",
"ᵢ":"i",
"ⱼ":"j",
"ₒ":"o",
"ᵣ":"r",
"ᵤ":"u",
"ᵥ":"v",
"ₓ":"x"};
String.prototype.latinise=function(){return this.replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9\[\] ]/g,function(a){return Latinise.latin_map[a]||a})};
String.prototype.latinize=String.prototype.latinise;
String.prototype.isLatin=function(){return this==this.latinise()}

Some examples:

> "Piqué".latinize();
"Pique"
> "Piqué".isLatin();
false
> "Pique".isLatin();
true
> "Piqué".latinise().isLatin();
true

Weirdo answered 12/3, 2012 at 13:21 Comment(5)

Thank you, that's certainly helpful. There's room for optimization, but it's a good start. +1 – Isogonic 12/3, 2012 at 15:57

What is the point of this line: String.prototype.latinize=String.prototype.latinise;? – Titanate 10/4, 2013 at 8:44

@Titanate This line makes it possible to call the function via "äöü".latinize() and "äöü".latinise(). Not a good practice!! – Pottery 1/6, 2013 at 20:45

Change the string prototype, that is the main bad practice. I have to update it. Thanks anyway – Ourself 22/4, 2015 at 13:40

Yes - you could definitely avoid modifying the prototype - depends on the size of your project. You could also pick your preferred spelling instead of exposing both. – Weirdo 15/1, 2017 at 2:34

https://stackoverflow.com/a/37511463

With ES2015/ES6 String.Prototype.Normalize(),
const str = "Crème Brulée"
str.normalize('NFD').replace(/[\u0300-\u036f]/g, "")
> 'Creme Brulee'
Two things are happening here:

normalize()ing to NFD Unicode normal form decomposes combined graphemes into the combination of simple ones. The è of Crème ends up expressed as e + ̀.

Using a regex character class to match the U+0300 → U+036F range, it is now trivial to globally get rid of the diacritics, which the Unicode standard conveniently groups as the Combining Diacritical Marks Unicode block.

See comment for performance testing.

Alternatively, if you just want sorting

Intl.Collator has sufficient support ~85% right now, a polyfill is also available here but I haven't tested it.
const c = new Intl.Collator();
['creme brulee', 'crème brulée', 'crame brulai', 'crome brouillé',
'creme brulay', 'creme brulfé', 'creme bruléa'].sort(c.compare)
[ 'crame brulai','creme brulay','creme bruléa','creme brulee',
'crème brulée','creme brulfé','crome brouillé' ]


['creme brulee', 'crème brulée', 'crame brulai', 'crome brouillé'].sort((a,b) => a>b)
["crame brulai", "creme brulee", "crome brouillé", "crème brulée"]

Tillett answered 18/4, 2018 at 14:1 Comment(6)

I consider this answer the best one. Based on Unicode standard and using built in functions. Thanks. – Machinery 3/9, 2018 at 12:18

Intl.Collator(undefined , {sensitivity: 'base'}) – Amp 15/10, 2018 at 22:57

I used this for creating a slug, so before I replace spaces to trailing slash and everything to lowercase. Your function works perfect !!! – Monomer 21/2, 2019 at 14:59

Already covered in another answer in this thread in '14. https://mcmap.net/q/20687/-efficiently-replace-all-accented-characters-in-a-string – Cajolery 14/11, 2019 at 19:17

This is wrong. Real, non-diacritic Swedish/German letters are erroneously replaced. See JSFiddle. – Sejm 27/1, 2021 at 23:32

@Sejm Removing diacritics would be wrong for sorting Swedish, yes, but OP is asking for an approximation of German dictionary sort (DIN 5007-1 variant 1), where äöü sorts as aou (in the approximation anyway). But obviously now as Intl.Collator has almost 95% global support, using any other method has become basically irrelevant anyway. As a general note, you almost never want to use undefined (i.e. user’s default) locale for things such as table sort, because it makes the sort behave differently for every user. Generally one should use the same locale that the data uses. – Demetrius 20/1, 2022 at 14:3

I can't speak to what you are trying to do specifically with the function itself, but if you don't like the regex being built every time, here are two solutions and some caveats about each.

Here is one way to do this:

function makeSortString(s) {
  if(!makeSortString.translate_re) makeSortString.translate_re = /[öäüÖÄÜ]/g;
  var translate = {
    "ä": "a", "ö": "o", "ü": "u",
    "Ä": "A", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U"   // probably more to come
  };
  return ( s.replace(makeSortString.translate_re, function(match) { 
    return translate[match]; 
  }) );
}

makeSortString.translate_re = /[a-z]/g;

So, there is that option.

One way to get a closure, and thus prevent someone from modifying the regex, would be to define this as an anonymous function assignment like this:

var makeSortString = (function() {
  var translate_re = /[öäüÖÄÜ]/g;
  return function(s) {
    var translate = {
      "ä": "a", "ö": "o", "ü": "u",
      "Ä": "A", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U"   // probably more to come
    };
    return ( s.replace(translate_re, function(match) { 
      return translate[match]; 
    }) );
  }
})();

Hopefully this is useful to you.

UPDATE: It's early and I don't know why I didn't see the obvious before, but it might also be useful to put you translate object in a closure as well:

var makeSortString = (function() {
  var translate_re = /[öäüÖÄÜ]/g;
  var translate = {
    "ä": "a", "ö": "o", "ü": "u",
    "Ä": "A", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U"   // probably more to come
  };
  return function(s) {
    return ( s.replace(translate_re, function(match) { 
      return translate[match]; 
    }) );
  }
})();

Nicely answered 13/11, 2008 at 15:6 Comment(12)

Is this function really that inefficient? What have you done as far as testing? – Nicely 13/11, 2008 at 15:30

Thanks for your time, greatly appreciated. I will do some testing of my own (but not today, it's 6 PM here), and post my findings here. – Isogonic 13/11, 2008 at 16:55

No worries - I hope I was helpful! – Nicely 4/3, 2009 at 18:33

You were. ;-) I posted what I have working right now, maybe someone else finds it useful. – Isogonic 5/3, 2009 at 11:29

I made use of this person's answer to a similar problem: https://mcmap.net/q/20551/-remove-accents-diacritics-in-a-string-in-javascript – Unteach 6/3, 2013 at 21:5

Charset for Hungarian regexp:

var translate_re = /[éáűőúöüóíÉÁŰPŐÚÖÜÓÍ]/g;   var translate = {     "é": "e", "á": "a", "ű": "u", "ő": "o", "ú": "u", "ö": "o", "ü": "u", "ó": "o", "í": "i",     "É": "E", "Á": "A", "Ű": "U", "Ő": "O", "Ú": "U", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U", "Ó": "O", "Í": "I"   };

– Titanate 10/4, 2013 at 8:55

Charset for Romanian regexp:

var translate_re = /[șțăîâȘȚĂÎÂ]/g; var translate = { "ș": "s", "ț": "t", "ă": "a", "î": "i", "â": "a", "Ș": "S", "Ț": "T", "Ă": "A", "Î": "I", "Â": "A" };

– Applewhite 1/6, 2015 at 9:48

The correct terminology for such accents is Diacritics. After Googling this term, I found this function which is part of backbone.paginator. It has a very complete collection of Diacritics and replaces them with their most intuitive ascii character. I found this to be the most complete Javascript solution available today.

The full function for future reference:

function removeDiacritics (str) {

  var defaultDiacriticsRemovalMap = [
    {'base':'A', 'letters':/[\u0041\u24B6\uFF21\u00C0\u00C1\u00C2\u1EA6\u1EA4\u1EAA\u1EA8\u00C3\u0100\u0102\u1EB0\u1EAE\u1EB4\u1EB2\u0226\u01E0\u00C4\u01DE\u1EA2\u00C5\u01FA\u01CD\u0200\u0202\u1EA0\u1EAC\u1EB6\u1E00\u0104\u023A\u2C6F]/g},
    {'base':'AA','letters':/[\uA732]/g},
    {'base':'AE','letters':/[\u00C6\u01FC\u01E2]/g},
    {'base':'AO','letters':/[\uA734]/g},
    {'base':'AU','letters':/[\uA736]/g},
    {'base':'AV','letters':/[\uA738\uA73A]/g},
    {'base':'AY','letters':/[\uA73C]/g},
    {'base':'B', 'letters':/[\u0042\u24B7\uFF22\u1E02\u1E04\u1E06\u0243\u0182\u0181]/g},
    {'base':'C', 'letters':/[\u0043\u24B8\uFF23\u0106\u0108\u010A\u010C\u00C7\u1E08\u0187\u023B\uA73E]/g},
    {'base':'D', 'letters':/[\u0044\u24B9\uFF24\u1E0A\u010E\u1E0C\u1E10\u1E12\u1E0E\u0110\u018B\u018A\u0189\uA779]/g},
    {'base':'DZ','letters':/[\u01F1\u01C4]/g},
    {'base':'Dz','letters':/[\u01F2\u01C5]/g},
    {'base':'E', 'letters':/[\u0045\u24BA\uFF25\u00C8\u00C9\u00CA\u1EC0\u1EBE\u1EC4\u1EC2\u1EBC\u0112\u1E14\u1E16\u0114\u0116\u00CB\u1EBA\u011A\u0204\u0206\u1EB8\u1EC6\u0228\u1E1C\u0118\u1E18\u1E1A\u0190\u018E]/g},
    {'base':'F', 'letters':/[\u0046\u24BB\uFF26\u1E1E\u0191\uA77B]/g},
    {'base':'G', 'letters':/[\u0047\u24BC\uFF27\u01F4\u011C\u1E20\u011E\u0120\u01E6\u0122\u01E4\u0193\uA7A0\uA77D\uA77E]/g},
    {'base':'H', 'letters':/[\u0048\u24BD\uFF28\u0124\u1E22\u1E26\u021E\u1E24\u1E28\u1E2A\u0126\u2C67\u2C75\uA78D]/g},
    {'base':'I', 'letters':/[\u0049\u24BE\uFF29\u00CC\u00CD\u00CE\u0128\u012A\u012C\u0130\u00CF\u1E2E\u1EC8\u01CF\u0208\u020A\u1ECA\u012E\u1E2C\u0197]/g},
    {'base':'J', 'letters':/[\u004A\u24BF\uFF2A\u0134\u0248]/g},
    {'base':'K', 'letters':/[\u004B\u24C0\uFF2B\u1E30\u01E8\u1E32\u0136\u1E34\u0198\u2C69\uA740\uA742\uA744\uA7A2]/g},
    {'base':'L', 'letters':/[\u004C\u24C1\uFF2C\u013F\u0139\u013D\u1E36\u1E38\u013B\u1E3C\u1E3A\u0141\u023D\u2C62\u2C60\uA748\uA746\uA780]/g},
    {'base':'LJ','letters':/[\u01C7]/g},
    {'base':'Lj','letters':/[\u01C8]/g},
    {'base':'M', 'letters':/[\u004D\u24C2\uFF2D\u1E3E\u1E40\u1E42\u2C6E\u019C]/g},
    {'base':'N', 'letters':/[\u004E\u24C3\uFF2E\u01F8\u0143\u00D1\u1E44\u0147\u1E46\u0145\u1E4A\u1E48\u0220\u019D\uA790\uA7A4]/g},
    {'base':'NJ','letters':/[\u01CA]/g},
    {'base':'Nj','letters':/[\u01CB]/g},
    {'base':'O', 'letters':/[\u004F\u24C4\uFF2F\u00D2\u00D3\u00D4\u1ED2\u1ED0\u1ED6\u1ED4\u00D5\u1E4C\u022C\u1E4E\u014C\u1E50\u1E52\u014E\u022E\u0230\u00D6\u022A\u1ECE\u0150\u01D1\u020C\u020E\u01A0\u1EDC\u1EDA\u1EE0\u1EDE\u1EE2\u1ECC\u1ED8\u01EA\u01EC\u00D8\u01FE\u0186\u019F\uA74A\uA74C]/g},
    {'base':'OI','letters':/[\u01A2]/g},
    {'base':'OO','letters':/[\uA74E]/g},
    {'base':'OU','letters':/[\u0222]/g},
    {'base':'P', 'letters':/[\u0050\u24C5\uFF30\u1E54\u1E56\u01A4\u2C63\uA750\uA752\uA754]/g},
    {'base':'Q', 'letters':/[\u0051\u24C6\uFF31\uA756\uA758\u024A]/g},
    {'base':'R', 'letters':/[\u0052\u24C7\uFF32\u0154\u1E58\u0158\u0210\u0212\u1E5A\u1E5C\u0156\u1E5E\u024C\u2C64\uA75A\uA7A6\uA782]/g},
    {'base':'S', 'letters':/[\u0053\u24C8\uFF33\u1E9E\u015A\u1E64\u015C\u1E60\u0160\u1E66\u1E62\u1E68\u0218\u015E\u2C7E\uA7A8\uA784]/g},
    {'base':'T', 'letters':/[\u0054\u24C9\uFF34\u1E6A\u0164\u1E6C\u021A\u0162\u1E70\u1E6E\u0166\u01AC\u01AE\u023E\uA786]/g},
    {'base':'TZ','letters':/[\uA728]/g},
    {'base':'U', 'letters':/[\u0055\u24CA\uFF35\u00D9\u00DA\u00DB\u0168\u1E78\u016A\u1E7A\u016C\u00DC\u01DB\u01D7\u01D5\u01D9\u1EE6\u016E\u0170\u01D3\u0214\u0216\u01AF\u1EEA\u1EE8\u1EEE\u1EEC\u1EF0\u1EE4\u1E72\u0172\u1E76\u1E74\u0244]/g},
    {'base':'V', 'letters':/[\u0056\u24CB\uFF36\u1E7C\u1E7E\u01B2\uA75E\u0245]/g},
    {'base':'VY','letters':/[\uA760]/g},
    {'base':'W', 'letters':/[\u0057\u24CC\uFF37\u1E80\u1E82\u0174\u1E86\u1E84\u1E88\u2C72]/g},
    {'base':'X', 'letters':/[\u0058\u24CD\uFF38\u1E8A\u1E8C]/g},
    {'base':'Y', 'letters':/[\u0059\u24CE\uFF39\u1EF2\u00DD\u0176\u1EF8\u0232\u1E8E\u0178\u1EF6\u1EF4\u01B3\u024E\u1EFE]/g},
    {'base':'Z', 'letters':/[\u005A\u24CF\uFF3A\u0179\u1E90\u017B\u017D\u1E92\u1E94\u01B5\u0224\u2C7F\u2C6B\uA762]/g},
    {'base':'a', 'letters':/[\u0061\u24D0\uFF41\u1E9A\u00E0\u00E1\u00E2\u1EA7\u1EA5\u1EAB\u1EA9\u00E3\u0101\u0103\u1EB1\u1EAF\u1EB5\u1EB3\u0227\u01E1\u00E4\u01DF\u1EA3\u00E5\u01FB\u01CE\u0201\u0203\u1EA1\u1EAD\u1EB7\u1E01\u0105\u2C65\u0250]/g},
    {'base':'aa','letters':/[\uA733]/g},
    {'base':'ae','letters':/[\u00E6\u01FD\u01E3]/g},
    {'base':'ao','letters':/[\uA735]/g},
    {'base':'au','letters':/[\uA737]/g},
    {'base':'av','letters':/[\uA739\uA73B]/g},
    {'base':'ay','letters':/[\uA73D]/g},
    {'base':'b', 'letters':/[\u0062\u24D1\uFF42\u1E03\u1E05\u1E07\u0180\u0183\u0253]/g},
    {'base':'c', 'letters':/[\u0063\u24D2\uFF43\u0107\u0109\u010B\u010D\u00E7\u1E09\u0188\u023C\uA73F\u2184]/g},
    {'base':'d', 'letters':/[\u0064\u24D3\uFF44\u1E0B\u010F\u1E0D\u1E11\u1E13\u1E0F\u0111\u018C\u0256\u0257\uA77A]/g},
    {'base':'dz','letters':/[\u01F3\u01C6]/g},
    {'base':'e', 'letters':/[\u0065\u24D4\uFF45\u00E8\u00E9\u00EA\u1EC1\u1EBF\u1EC5\u1EC3\u1EBD\u0113\u1E15\u1E17\u0115\u0117\u00EB\u1EBB\u011B\u0205\u0207\u1EB9\u1EC7\u0229\u1E1D\u0119\u1E19\u1E1B\u0247\u025B\u01DD]/g},
    {'base':'f', 'letters':/[\u0066\u24D5\uFF46\u1E1F\u0192\uA77C]/g},
    {'base':'g', 'letters':/[\u0067\u24D6\uFF47\u01F5\u011D\u1E21\u011F\u0121\u01E7\u0123\u01E5\u0260\uA7A1\u1D79\uA77F]/g},
    {'base':'h', 'letters':/[\u0068\u24D7\uFF48\u0125\u1E23\u1E27\u021F\u1E25\u1E29\u1E2B\u1E96\u0127\u2C68\u2C76\u0265]/g},
    {'base':'hv','letters':/[\u0195]/g},
    {'base':'i', 'letters':/[\u0069\u24D8\uFF49\u00EC\u00ED\u00EE\u0129\u012B\u012D\u00EF\u1E2F\u1EC9\u01D0\u0209\u020B\u1ECB\u012F\u1E2D\u0268\u0131]/g},
    {'base':'j', 'letters':/[\u006A\u24D9\uFF4A\u0135\u01F0\u0249]/g},
    {'base':'k', 'letters':/[\u006B\u24DA\uFF4B\u1E31\u01E9\u1E33\u0137\u1E35\u0199\u2C6A\uA741\uA743\uA745\uA7A3]/g},
    {'base':'l', 'letters':/[\u006C\u24DB\uFF4C\u0140\u013A\u013E\u1E37\u1E39\u013C\u1E3D\u1E3B\u017F\u0142\u019A\u026B\u2C61\uA749\uA781\uA747]/g},
    {'base':'lj','letters':/[\u01C9]/g},
    {'base':'m', 'letters':/[\u006D\u24DC\uFF4D\u1E3F\u1E41\u1E43\u0271\u026F]/g},
    {'base':'n', 'letters':/[\u006E\u24DD\uFF4E\u01F9\u0144\u00F1\u1E45\u0148\u1E47\u0146\u1E4B\u1E49\u019E\u0272\u0149\uA791\uA7A5]/g},
    {'base':'nj','letters':/[\u01CC]/g},
    {'base':'o', 'letters':/[\u006F\u24DE\uFF4F\u00F2\u00F3\u00F4\u1ED3\u1ED1\u1ED7\u1ED5\u00F5\u1E4D\u022D\u1E4F\u014D\u1E51\u1E53\u014F\u022F\u0231\u00F6\u022B\u1ECF\u0151\u01D2\u020D\u020F\u01A1\u1EDD\u1EDB\u1EE1\u1EDF\u1EE3\u1ECD\u1ED9\u01EB\u01ED\u00F8\u01FF\u0254\uA74B\uA74D\u0275]/g},
    {'base':'oi','letters':/[\u01A3]/g},
    {'base':'ou','letters':/[\u0223]/g},
    {'base':'oo','letters':/[\uA74F]/g},
    {'base':'p','letters':/[\u0070\u24DF\uFF50\u1E55\u1E57\u01A5\u1D7D\uA751\uA753\uA755]/g},
    {'base':'q','letters':/[\u0071\u24E0\uFF51\u024B\uA757\uA759]/g},
    {'base':'r','letters':/[\u0072\u24E1\uFF52\u0155\u1E59\u0159\u0211\u0213\u1E5B\u1E5D\u0157\u1E5F\u024D\u027D\uA75B\uA7A7\uA783]/g},
    {'base':'s','letters':/[\u0073\u24E2\uFF53\u00DF\u015B\u1E65\u015D\u1E61\u0161\u1E67\u1E63\u1E69\u0219\u015F\u023F\uA7A9\uA785\u1E9B]/g},
    {'base':'t','letters':/[\u0074\u24E3\uFF54\u1E6B\u1E97\u0165\u1E6D\u021B\u0163\u1E71\u1E6F\u0167\u01AD\u0288\u2C66\uA787]/g},
    {'base':'tz','letters':/[\uA729]/g},
    {'base':'u','letters':/[\u0075\u24E4\uFF55\u00F9\u00FA\u00FB\u0169\u1E79\u016B\u1E7B\u016D\u00FC\u01DC\u01D8\u01D6\u01DA\u1EE7\u016F\u0171\u01D4\u0215\u0217\u01B0\u1EEB\u1EE9\u1EEF\u1EED\u1EF1\u1EE5\u1E73\u0173\u1E77\u1E75\u0289]/g},
    {'base':'v','letters':/[\u0076\u24E5\uFF56\u1E7D\u1E7F\u028B\uA75F\u028C]/g},
    {'base':'vy','letters':/[\uA761]/g},
    {'base':'w','letters':/[\u0077\u24E6\uFF57\u1E81\u1E83\u0175\u1E87\u1E85\u1E98\u1E89\u2C73]/g},
    {'base':'x','letters':/[\u0078\u24E7\uFF58\u1E8B\u1E8D]/g},
    {'base':'y','letters':/[\u0079\u24E8\uFF59\u1EF3\u00FD\u0177\u1EF9\u0233\u1E8F\u00FF\u1EF7\u1E99\u1EF5\u01B4\u024F\u1EFF]/g},
    {'base':'z','letters':/[\u007A\u24E9\uFF5A\u017A\u1E91\u017C\u017E\u1E93\u1E95\u01B6\u0225\u0240\u2C6C\uA763]/g}
  ];

  for(var i=0; i<defaultDiacriticsRemovalMap.length; i++) {
    str = str.replace(defaultDiacriticsRemovalMap[i].letters, defaultDiacriticsRemovalMap[i].base);
  }

  return str;

}

Zerk answered 10/8, 2013 at 9:9 Comment(2)

Looks very good. - Unfortunately, backbone.js did not exist when this question was written. :) – Isogonic 10/8, 2013 at 9:50

more discussion regarding this solution on https://mcmap.net/q/20551/-remove-accents-diacritics-in-a-string-in-javascript – Africander 16/9, 2014 at 14:52

Simply should be normalized chain and run a replacement codes:

var str = "Letras Á É Í Ó Ú Ñ - á é í ó ú ñ...";
console.log (str.normalize ("NFKD").replace (/[\u0300-\u036F]/g, ""));
// Letras A E I O U N - a e i o u n...

See normalize

Then you can use this function:

function noTilde (s) {
    if (s.normalize != undefined) {
        s = s.normalize ("NFKD");
    }
    return s.replace (/[\u0300-\u036F]/g, "");
}

Cajolery answered 20/5, 2014 at 18:33 Comment(7)

That's pretty nice! But on the downside, at the time of writing it's bleeding edge and hardly portable. – Isogonic 20/5, 2014 at 20:40

may be encapsulated in a function – Cajolery 20/5, 2014 at 20:58

All encapsulation will be useless if the JS engine in the browser doesn't support this function. – Isogonic 20/5, 2014 at 22:32

It's 2016 and Safari still doesn't support it... Shame as it'd be really handy to have this tool in hand. – Francoisefrancolin 8/2, 2016 at 16:0

This is not supported in IE :( – Vamoose 24/2, 2016 at 4:19

@beginning Here is a library that you can use as a polyfill to get the normalize function in browsers that don't have it: github.com/walling/unorm I know it's 4 years later, but oh well. – Names 23/9, 2020 at 18:14

Simply try this with Swedish åäö letters and you erroneously end up with aao. Not so nice... – Sejm 27/1, 2021 at 23:35

I can't think about an easier way to efficiently remove all diacritics from a string than using this amazing solution.

See it in action:

var string = "öäüÖÄÜ";
console.log(string);

var string_norm = string.normalize('NFD').replace(/\p{Diacritic}/gu, ""); // Old method: .replace(/[\u0300-\u036f]/g, "");
console.log(string_norm);

Quadragesima answered 16/8, 2018 at 10:5 Comment(3)

Already covered in another answer in this thread. https://mcmap.net/q/20687/-efficiently-replace-all-accented-characters-in-a-string – Isogonic 16/8, 2018 at 10:46

@Isogonic True, I didn't notice it. Anyway, I'm not deleting my answer, because I think it's better to use "NFD" instead of "NFKD". Plus, I've got a snippet. :p – Quadragesima 17/8, 2018 at 7:40

Sweet and simple solution. Thanks @TakitIsy – Government 6/1, 2022 at 7:50

I think this might work a little cleaner/better (though I haven't test it's performance):

String.prototype.stripAccents = function() {
    var translate_re = /[àáâãäçèéêëìíîïñòóôõöùúûüýÿÀÁÂÃÄÇÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏÑÒÓÔÕÖÙÚÛÜÝ]/g;
    var translate = 'aaaaaceeeeiiiinooooouuuuyyAAAAACEEEEIIIINOOOOOUUUUY';
    return (this.replace(translate_re, function(match){
        return translate.substr(translate_re.source.indexOf(match)-1, 1); })
    );
};

Or if you are still too worried about performance, let's get the best of both worlds:

String.prototype.stripAccents = function() {
    var in_chrs =  'àáâãäçèéêëìíîïñòóôõöùúûüýÿÀÁÂÃÄÇÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏÑÒÓÔÕÖÙÚÛÜÝ',
        out_chrs = 'aaaaaceeeeiiiinooooouuuuyyAAAAACEEEEIIIINOOOOOUUUUY', 
        transl = {};
    eval('var chars_rgx = /['+in_chrs+']/g');
    for(var i = 0; i < in_chrs.length; i++){ transl[in_chrs.charAt(i)] = out_chrs.charAt(i); }
    return this.replace(chars_rgx, function(match){
        return transl[match]; });
};

EDIT (by @Tomalak)

I appreciate the idea. However, there are several things wrong with the implementation, as outlined in the comment below.

Here is how I would implement it.

var stripAccents = (function () {
  var in_chrs   = 'àáâãäçèéêëìíîïñòóôõöùúûüýÿÀÁÂÃÄÇÈÉÊËÌÍÎÏÑÒÓÔÕÖÙÚÛÜÝ',
      out_chrs  = 'aaaaaceeeeiiiinooooouuuuyyAAAAACEEEEIIIINOOOOOUUUUY', 
      chars_rgx = new RegExp('[' + in_chrs + ']', 'g'),
      transl    = {}, i,
      lookup    = function (m) { return transl[m] || m; };

  for (i=0; i<in_chrs.length; i++) {
    transl[ in_chrs[i] ] = out_chrs[i];
  }

  return function (s) { return s.replace(chars_rgx, lookup); }
})();

Durand answered 13/12, 2011 at 14:19 Comment(5)

Why would you think that this works better? I assume object lookup is a lot faster than String.indexOf(). – Isogonic 13/12, 2011 at 14:23

Tomalak, I added another way of doing it that gathers the best of both worlds (readability and performance), I could eventually take it a step further and cache the char_rgx object, but I don't think it makes much sense unless if working with real-time precision... – Durand 13/12, 2011 at 18:3

Sorry, but there are several things wrong with this code. First-off, its inappropriate use of eval(). There is new RegExp() for that. Second, it modifies the String prototype. Modifying built-in data types is very widely frowned upon. Third, the function runs a for-each-character loop with every invocation. This is what I've been trying to avoid in the first place. This means it fixes readability at the expense of performance, which I consider a bad trade-off. I appreciate the idea, but the execution is sub-optimal. :) – Isogonic 13/12, 2011 at 19:38

@Isogonic it's a nice way to do it! I was just wondering why you're returning a function instead of passing "s" in the first place var stripAccents = function(s){ var in_chrs = ... } ? jsfiddle – Chilton 21/5, 2015 at 19:35

Because returning a function closes over the variables and the function in the outer scope, so that they don't need to be redefined every time stripAccents() is called. See closures. – Isogonic 21/5, 2015 at 19:43

Based on the solution by Jason Bunting, here is what I use now.

The whole thing is for the jQuery tablesorter plug-in: For (nearly correct) sorting of non-English tables with tablesorter plugin it is necessary to make use of a custom textExtraction function.

This one:

translates the most common accented letters to unaccented ones (the list of supported letters is easily expandable)
changes dates in German format ('dd.mm.yyyy') to a recognized format ('yyyy-mm-dd')

Be careful to save the JavaScript file in UTF-8 encoding or it won't work.

// file encoding must be UTF-8!
function getTextExtractor()
{
  return (function() {
    var patternLetters = /[öäüÖÄÜáàâéèêúùûóòôÁÀÂÉÈÊÚÙÛÓÒÔß]/g;
    var patternDateDmy = /^(?:\D+)?(\d{1,2})\.(\d{1,2})\.(\d{2,4})$/;
    var lookupLetters = {
      "ä": "a", "ö": "o", "ü": "u",
      "Ä": "A", "Ö": "O", "Ü": "U",
      "á": "a", "à": "a", "â": "a",
      "é": "e", "è": "e", "ê": "e",
      "ú": "u", "ù": "u", "û": "u",
      "ó": "o", "ò": "o", "ô": "o",
      "Á": "A", "À": "A", "Â": "A",
      "É": "E", "È": "E", "Ê": "E",
      "Ú": "U", "Ù": "U", "Û": "U",
      "Ó": "O", "Ò": "O", "Ô": "O",
      "ß": "s"
    };
    var letterTranslator = function(match) { 
      return lookupLetters[match] || match;
    }

    return function(node) {
      var text = $.trim($(node).text());
      var date = text.match(patternDateDmy);
      if (date)
        return [date[3], date[2], date[1]].join("-");
      else
        return text.replace(patternLetters, letterTranslator);
    }
  })();
}

You can use it like this:

$("table.sortable").tablesorter({ 
  textExtraction: getTextExtractor()
});

Isogonic answered 5/3, 2009 at 11:27 Comment(13)

Don't know if someone will see my comment but i need the same function for some accented letter in portuguese and i cant manage to make it work. Should the concerned letters in my php file be called by the 'html code': Í or by typing directly the 'Í' letter ? I tryed both, nothing works. And yeah i changed the js function to suit my needs with the Í and í letters and my js is encoded utf-8. – Furiya 16/3, 2010 at 21:28

@kevin: Of course someone notices the comment. ;-) The character in your HTML (which is produced by that PHP file, I presume) can be Í or the actual Í. It makes no difference as long as encoding settings are correct (actual PHP file encoding, PHP server percieved file encoding, HTTP Content-Type header, HTML meta tags). Using the HTML entity may be safest. If the .js file is UTF-8 encoded, it must be served as such (text/javascript; Charset=UTF-8), then all should be well. – Isogonic 16/3, 2010 at 22:32

Thanks for noticing ;-), i checked and tried in may ways what you said, it just doesn't go. Could this be due to other js files being called in the same php page ? If u wanna give a look, it's here: schulz-al.tempsite.ws/br/?page_id=51 . Thanks for help, apreciated. – Furiya 18/3, 2010 at 15:8

@kevin: BTW check your references to sitemap-up.gif and sitemap-down.gif, I get 401 Access Denied for them. – Isogonic 18/3, 2010 at 16:48

@kevin: Next thing: Your scripts are being served as Content-Type: text/html without a Charset parameter. They should at least be Content-Type: text/javascript;. Also, your GetTextExtractor() method (the one in jquery.tablesorter.min.js) differs quite heavily from my function, no idea why you think your's could work. ;-) Tip: Put the text extractor into scripts.js, not into the tablesorter plugin code. You should not touch the plugin code to avoid future headaches. – Isogonic 18/3, 2010 at 16:57

Yeah saw the images pb, solved. About the <code>Content-Type: text/javascript</code>, all my scripts are being called that way <code><script type="text/javascript" src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/js/jquery.tablesorter.min.js" charset="utf-8"></script></code>, so i dont understand what u mean. I just did what u suggested, copied back your js code to a new scripts.js file and added my "Í" and "í" letters, still nothing, am going crazy and i feel dumb. Thanks a lot for help anyway. – Furiya 18/3, 2010 at 19:9

@kevin: I'm sorry to say that there is reason to feel stupid. ;-) You have copied my code $("table.sortable").tablesorter(…);, but your table is actually $("table.tablesorter"). Also, there is no need to call tablesorter() a second time. Once you make that change, it is going to work - I just tested via FireBug. – Isogonic 18/3, 2010 at 19:52

Omg, that was pretty dumb indeed... Thanks a lot for help Tomalak, really appreciated, it's working great now. I also had to call the character extraction <code>{ textExtraction: GetTextExtractor() }</code> after the zebra widget call <code>$.tablesorter.defaults.widgets = ['zebra'];</code> to get it all together. Thanks again! – Furiya 18/3, 2010 at 20:34

@kevin: Glad to hear it worked after all. :) P.S.: I would appreciate an up-vote in return. ;) – Isogonic 18/3, 2010 at 21:7

Sure, how can i do that ? (is it clicking on the flag icon "this is a great comment" ?) – Furiya 18/3, 2010 at 21:21

@kevin: No, it's by clicking on the voting buttons on the top left side of the answer. ;) Comments can be voted on, too, but only votes for questions oder answers generate reputation, which is the primary currency of this site. ;) – Isogonic 18/3, 2010 at 21:29

Great code! Perhaps you could make a GitHub Gist out of this? – Dramaturge 6/7, 2012 at 16:6

I still had a problem with sorting, example: Šalat, Sup. This is incorrect order so I did something like this - "Š": "Szz", "š": "szz", it should be almost 100% effective – Hadria 26/4, 2013 at 7:26

The complete solution to your request is:

function convert_accented_characters(str){
    var conversions = new Object();
    conversions['ae'] = 'ä|æ|ǽ';
    conversions['oe'] = 'ö|œ';
    conversions['ue'] = 'ü';
    conversions['Ae'] = 'Ä';
    conversions['Ue'] = 'Ü';
    conversions['Oe'] = 'Ö';
    conversions['A'] = 'À|Á|Â|Ã|Ä|Å|Ǻ|Ā|Ă|Ą|Ǎ';
    conversions['a'] = 'à|á|â|ã|å|ǻ|ā|ă|ą|ǎ|ª';
    conversions['C'] = 'Ç|Ć|Ĉ|Ċ|Č';
    conversions['c'] = 'ç|ć|ĉ|ċ|č';
    conversions['D'] = 'Ð|Ď|Đ';
    conversions['d'] = 'ð|ď|đ';
    conversions['E'] = 'È|É|Ê|Ë|Ē|Ĕ|Ė|Ę|Ě';
    conversions['e'] = 'è|é|ê|ë|ē|ĕ|ė|ę|ě';
    conversions['G'] = 'Ĝ|Ğ|Ġ|Ģ';
    conversions['g'] = 'ĝ|ğ|ġ|ģ';
    conversions['H'] = 'Ĥ|Ħ';
    conversions['h'] = 'ĥ|ħ';
    conversions['I'] = 'Ì|Í|Î|Ï|Ĩ|Ī|Ĭ|Ǐ|Į|İ';
    conversions['i'] = 'ì|í|î|ï|ĩ|ī|ĭ|ǐ|į|ı';
    conversions['J'] = 'Ĵ';
    conversions['j'] = 'ĵ';
    conversions['K'] = 'Ķ';
    conversions['k'] = 'ķ';
    conversions['L'] = 'Ĺ|Ļ|Ľ|Ŀ|Ł';
    conversions['l'] = 'ĺ|ļ|ľ|ŀ|ł';
    conversions['N'] = 'Ñ|Ń|Ņ|Ň';
    conversions['n'] = 'ñ|ń|ņ|ň|ŉ';
    conversions['O'] = 'Ò|Ó|Ô|Õ|Ō|Ŏ|Ǒ|Ő|Ơ|Ø|Ǿ';
    conversions['o'] = 'ò|ó|ô|õ|ō|ŏ|ǒ|ő|ơ|ø|ǿ|º';
    conversions['R'] = 'Ŕ|Ŗ|Ř';
    conversions['r'] = 'ŕ|ŗ|ř';
    conversions['S'] = 'Ś|Ŝ|Ş|Š';
    conversions['s'] = 'ś|ŝ|ş|š|ſ';
    conversions['T'] = 'Ţ|Ť|Ŧ';
    conversions['t'] = 'ţ|ť|ŧ';
    conversions['U'] = 'Ù|Ú|Û|Ũ|Ū|Ŭ|Ů|Ű|Ų|Ư|Ǔ|Ǖ|Ǘ|Ǚ|Ǜ';
    conversions['u'] = 'ù|ú|û|ũ|ū|ŭ|ů|ű|ų|ư|ǔ|ǖ|ǘ|ǚ|ǜ';
    conversions['Y'] = 'Ý|Ÿ|Ŷ';
    conversions['y'] = 'ý|ÿ|ŷ';
    conversions['W'] = 'Ŵ';
    conversions['w'] = 'ŵ';
    conversions['Z'] = 'Ź|Ż|Ž';
    conversions['z'] = 'ź|ż|ž';
    conversions['AE'] = 'Æ|Ǽ';
    conversions['ss'] = 'ß';
    conversions['IJ'] = 'Ĳ';
    conversions['ij'] = 'ĳ';
    conversions['OE'] = 'Œ';
    conversions['f'] = 'ƒ';
    for(var i in conversions){
        var re = new RegExp(conversions[i],"g");
        str = str.replace(re,i);
    }
    return str;
}

Noon answered 17/7, 2013 at 8:24 Comment(0)

If you're looking specifically for a way to convert accented characters to non-accented characters, rather than a way to sort accented characters, with a little finagling, the String.localeCompare function can be manipulated to find the basic latin characters that match the extended ones. For example, you might want to produce a human friendly url slug from a page title. If so, you can do something like this:

var baseChars = [];
for (var i = 97; i < 97 + 26; i++) {
  baseChars.push(String.fromCharCode(i));
}

//if needed, handle fancy compound characters
baseChars = baseChars.concat('ss,aa,ae,ao,au,av,ay,dz,hv,lj,nj,oi,ou,oo,tz,vy'.split(','));

function isUpperCase(c) { return c !== c.toLocaleLowerCase() }

function toBaseChar(c, opts) {
  opts = opts || {};
  //if (!('nonAlphaChar' in opts)) opts.nonAlphaChar = '';
  //if (!('noMatchChar' in opts)) opts.noMatchChar = '';
  if (!('locale' in opts)) opts.locale = 'en';

  var cOpts = {sensitivity: 'base'};

  //exit early for any non-alphabetical character
  if (c.localeCompare('9', opts.locale, cOpts) <= 0) return opts.nonAlphaChar === undefined ? c : opts.nonAlphaChar;

  for (var i = 0; i < baseChars.length; i++) {
    var baseChar = baseChars[i];

    var comp = c.localeCompare(baseChar, opts.locale, cOpts);
    if (comp == 0) return (isUpperCase(c)) ? baseChar.toUpperCase() : baseChar;
  }

  return opts.noMatchChar === undefined ? c : opts.noMatchChar;
}

function latinify(str, opts) {
  return str.replace(/[^\w\s\d]/g, function(c) {
    return toBaseChar(c, opts);
  })
}

// Example:
console.log(latinify('Čeština Tsėhesenėstsestotse Tshivenḓa Emigliàn–Rumagnòl Slovenščina Português Tiếng Việt Straße'))

// "Cestina Tsehesenestsestotse Tshivenda Emiglian–Rumagnol Slovenscina Portugues Tieng Viet Strasse"

This should perform quite well, but if further optimization were needed, a binary search could be used with localeCompare as the comparator to locate the base character. Note that case is preserved, and options allow for either preserving, replacing, or removing characters that aren't alphabetical, or do not have matching latin characters they can be replaced with. This implementation is faster and more flexible, and should work with new characters as they are added. The disadvantage is that compound characters like 'ꝡ' have to be handled specifically, if they need to be supported.

Zosema answered 23/2, 2017 at 2:19 Comment(2)

This is very nice. A shame that late answers to old threads get so little attention. – Isogonic 23/2, 2017 at 2:55

Easily the best answer here. Should get more votes (got mine!) – Parimutuel 19/7, 2017 at 17:46

I made a Prototype Version of this:

String.prototype.strip = function() {
  var translate_re = /[öäüÖÄÜß ]/g;
  var translate = {
    "ä":"a", "ö":"o", "ü":"u",
    "Ä":"A", "Ö":"O", "Ü":"U",
    " ":"_", "ß":"ss"   // probably more to come
  };
    return (this.replace(translate_re, function(match){
        return translate[match];})
    );
};

Use like:

var teststring = 'ä ö ü Ä Ö Ü ß';
teststring.strip();

This will will change the String to a_o_u_A_O_U_ss

Pilliwinks answered 25/5, 2011 at 11:17 Comment(1)

that does not work. However if I do var newstr = teststring.strip(); and console.log() that, then it works -- jsfiddle. Thanks man, it's the most concise and readable method. – Heartburn 15/6, 2015 at 15:9

Basing on existing answers and some suggestions, I've created this one:

String.prototype.removeAccents = function() {

    var removalMap = {
        'A'  : /[AⒶＡÀÁÂẦẤẪẨÃĀĂẰẮẴẲȦǠÄǞẢÅǺǍȀȂẠẬẶḀĄ]/g,
        'AA' : /[Ꜳ]/g,
        'AE' : /[ÆǼǢ]/g,
        'AO' : /[Ꜵ]/g,
        'AU' : /[Ꜷ]/g,
        'AV' : /[ꜸꜺ]/g,
        'AY' : /[Ꜽ]/g,
        'B'  : /[BⒷＢḂḄḆɃƂƁ]/g,
        'C'  : /[CⒸＣĆĈĊČÇḈƇȻꜾ]/g,
        'D'  : /[DⒹＤḊĎḌḐḒḎĐƋƊƉꝹ]/g,
        'DZ' : /[ǱǄ]/g,
        'Dz' : /[ǲǅ]/g,
        'E'  : /[EⒺＥÈÉÊỀẾỄỂẼĒḔḖĔĖËẺĚȄȆẸỆȨḜĘḘḚƐƎ]/g,
        'F'  : /[FⒻＦḞƑꝻ]/g,
        'G'  : /[GⒼＧǴĜḠĞĠǦĢǤƓꞠꝽꝾ]/g,
        'H'  : /[HⒽＨĤḢḦȞḤḨḪĦⱧⱵꞍ]/g,
        'I'  : /[IⒾＩÌÍÎĨĪĬİÏḮỈǏȈȊỊĮḬƗ]/g,
        'J'  : /[JⒿＪĴɈ]/g,
        'K'  : /[KⓀＫḰǨḲĶḴƘⱩꝀꝂꝄꞢ]/g,
        'L'  : /[LⓁＬĿĹĽḶḸĻḼḺŁȽⱢⱠꝈꝆꞀ]/g,
        'LJ' : /[Ǉ]/g,
        'Lj' : /[ǈ]/g,
        'M'  : /[MⓂＭḾṀṂⱮƜ]/g,
        'N'  : /[NⓃＮǸŃÑṄŇṆŅṊṈȠƝꞐꞤ]/g,
        'NJ' : /[Ǌ]/g,
        'Nj' : /[ǋ]/g,
        'O'  : /[OⓄＯÒÓÔỒỐỖỔÕṌȬṎŌṐṒŎȮȰÖȪỎŐǑȌȎƠỜỚỠỞỢỌỘǪǬØǾƆƟꝊꝌ]/g,
        'OI' : /[Ƣ]/g,
        'OO' : /[Ꝏ]/g,
        'OU' : /[Ȣ]/g,
        'P'  : /[PⓅＰṔṖƤⱣꝐꝒꝔ]/g,
        'Q'  : /[QⓆＱꝖꝘɊ]/g,
        'R'  : /[RⓇＲŔṘŘȐȒṚṜŖṞɌⱤꝚꞦꞂ]/g,
        'S'  : /[SⓈＳẞŚṤŜṠŠṦṢṨȘŞⱾꞨꞄ]/g,
        'T'  : /[TⓉＴṪŤṬȚŢṰṮŦƬƮȾꞆ]/g,
        'TZ' : /[Ꜩ]/g,
        'U'  : /[UⓊＵÙÚÛŨṸŪṺŬÜǛǗǕǙỦŮŰǓȔȖƯỪỨỮỬỰỤṲŲṶṴɄ]/g,
        'V'  : /[VⓋＶṼṾƲꝞɅ]/g,
        'VY' : /[Ꝡ]/g,
        'W'  : /[WⓌＷẀẂŴẆẄẈⱲ]/g,
        'X'  : /[XⓍＸẊẌ]/g,
        'Y'  : /[YⓎＹỲÝŶỸȲẎŸỶỴƳɎỾ]/g,
        'Z'  : /[ZⓏＺŹẐŻŽẒẔƵȤⱿⱫꝢ]/g,
        'a'  : /[aⓐａẚàáâầấẫẩãāăằắẵẳȧǡäǟảåǻǎȁȃạậặḁąⱥɐ]/g,
        'aa' : /[ꜳ]/g,
        'ae' : /[æǽǣ]/g,
        'ao' : /[ꜵ]/g,
        'au' : /[ꜷ]/g,
        'av' : /[ꜹꜻ]/g,
        'ay' : /[ꜽ]/g,
        'b'  : /[bⓑｂḃḅḇƀƃɓ]/g,
        'c'  : /[cⓒｃćĉċčçḉƈȼꜿↄ]/g,
        'd'  : /[dⓓｄḋďḍḑḓḏđƌɖɗꝺ]/g,
        'dz' : /[ǳǆ]/g,
        'e'  : /[eⓔｅèéêềếễểẽēḕḗĕėëẻěȅȇẹệȩḝęḙḛɇɛǝ]/g,
        'f'  : /[fⓕｆḟƒꝼ]/g,
        'g'  : /[gⓖｇǵĝḡğġǧģǥɠꞡᵹꝿ]/g,
        'h'  : /[hⓗｈĥḣḧȟḥḩḫẖħⱨⱶɥ]/g,
        'hv' : /[ƕ]/g,
        'i'  : /[iⓘｉìíîĩīĭïḯỉǐȉȋịįḭɨı]/g,
        'j'  : /[jⓙｊĵǰɉ]/g,
        'k'  : /[kⓚｋḱǩḳķḵƙⱪꝁꝃꝅꞣ]/g,
        'l'  : /[lⓛｌŀĺľḷḹļḽḻſłƚɫⱡꝉꞁꝇ]/g,
        'lj' : /[ǉ]/g,
        'm'  : /[mⓜｍḿṁṃɱɯ]/g,
        'n'  : /[nⓝｎǹńñṅňṇņṋṉƞɲŉꞑꞥ]/g,
        'nj' : /[ǌ]/g,
        'o'  : /[oⓞｏòóôồốỗổõṍȭṏōṑṓŏȯȱöȫỏőǒȍȏơờớỡởợọộǫǭøǿɔꝋꝍɵ]/g,
        'oi' : /[ƣ]/g,
        'ou' : /[ȣ]/g,
        'oo' : /[ꝏ]/g,
        'p'  : /[pⓟｐṕṗƥᵽꝑꝓꝕ]/g,
        'q'  : /[qⓠｑɋꝗꝙ]/g,
        'r'  : /[rⓡｒŕṙřȑȓṛṝŗṟɍɽꝛꞧꞃ]/g,
        's'  : /[sⓢｓßśṥŝṡšṧṣṩșşȿꞩꞅẛ]/g,
        't'  : /[tⓣｔṫẗťṭțţṱṯŧƭʈⱦꞇ]/g,
        'tz' : /[ꜩ]/g,
        'u'  : /[uⓤｕùúûũṹūṻŭüǜǘǖǚủůűǔȕȗưừứữửựụṳųṷṵʉ]/g,
        'v'  : /[vⓥｖṽṿʋꝟʌ]/g,
        'vy' : /[ꝡ]/g,
        'w'  : /[wⓦｗẁẃŵẇẅẘẉⱳ]/g,
        'x'  : /[xⓧｘẋẍ]/g,
        'y'  : /[yⓨｙỳýŷỹȳẏÿỷẙỵƴɏỿ]/g,
        'z'  : /[zⓩｚźẑżžẓẕƶȥɀⱬꝣ]/g,
    };

    var str = this;

    for(var latin in removalMap) {
      var nonLatin = removalMap[latin];
      str = str.replace(nonLatin , latin);
    }

    return str;
}

It uses real chars instead of unicode list and works well.

You can use it like

"ąąą".removeAccents(); // returns "aaa"

You can easily convert this function to not be string prototype. However, as I'm fan of using string prototype in such cases, you'll have to do it yourself.

Feltner answered 10/4, 2016 at 22:37 Comment(1)

Unfortunately this is comparatively inefficient, with that many regexes in a loop. – Isogonic 11/4, 2016 at 7:57

A direct port to javascript of Kierons solution: https://github.com/rwarasaurus/nano/blob/master/system/helpers.php#L61-73:

/**
 * Normalise a string replacing foreign characters
 *
 * @param {String} str
 * @return {String} str
 */

var normalize = (function () {
    var a = ['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', 'Ý', 'ß', 'à', 'á', 'â', 'ã', 'ä', 'å', 'æ', 'ç', 'è', 'é', 'ê', 'ë', 'ì', 'í', 'î', 'ï', 'ñ', 'ò', 'ó', 'ô', 'õ', 'ö', 'ø', 'ù', 'ú', 'û', 'ü', 'ý', 'ÿ', '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', 'Ŵ', 'ŵ', 'Ŷ', 'ŷ', 'Ÿ', 'Ź', 'ź', 'Ż', 'ż', 'Ž', 'ž', 'ſ', 'ƒ', 'Ơ', 'ơ', 'Ư', 'ư', 'Ǎ', 'ǎ', 'Ǐ', 'ǐ', 'Ǒ', 'ǒ', 'Ǔ', 'ǔ', 'Ǖ', 'ǖ', 'Ǘ', 'ǘ', 'Ǚ', 'ǚ', 'Ǜ', 'ǜ', 'Ǻ', 'ǻ', 'Ǽ', 'ǽ', 'Ǿ', 'ǿ'];
    var b = ['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', 'Y', 's', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'ae', 'c', 'e', 'e', 'e', 'e', 'i', 'i', 'i', 'i', 'n', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'u', 'u', 'u', 'u', 'y', 'y', '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', 'W', 'w', 'Y', 'y', 'Y', 'Z', 'z', 'Z', 'z', 'Z', 'z', 's', 'f', 'O', 'o', 'U', 'u', 'A', 'a', 'I', 'i', 'O', 'o', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'A', 'a', 'AE', 'ae', 'O', 'o'];

    return function (str) {
        var i = a.length;
        while (i--) str = str.replace(a[i], b[i]);
        return str;
    };
}());

And a slightly modified version, using a char-map instead of two arrays:

To compare these two methods I made a simple benchmark: http://jsperf.com/replace-foreign-characters

/**
 * Normalise a string replacing foreign characters
 *
 * @param {String} str
 * @return {String}
 */
var normalize = (function () {
    var map = {
            "À": "A",
            "Á": "A",
            "Â": "A",
            "Ã": "A",
            "Ä": "A",
            "Å": "A",
            "Æ": "AE",
            "Ç": "C",
            "È": "E",
            "É": "E",
            "Ê": "E",
            "Ë": "E",
            "Ì": "I",
            "Í": "I",
            "Î": "I",
            "Ï": "I",
            "Ð": "D",
            "Ñ": "N",
            "Ò": "O",
            "Ó": "O",
            "Ô": "O",
            "Õ": "O",
            "Ö": "O",
            "Ø": "O",
            "Ù": "U",
            "Ú": "U",
            "Û": "U",
            "Ü": "U",
            "Ý": "Y",
            "ß": "s",
            "à": "a",
            "á": "a",
            "â": "a",
            "ã": "a",
            "ä": "a",
            "å": "a",
            "æ": "ae",
            "ç": "c",
            "è": "e",
            "é": "e",
            "ê": "e",
            "ë": "e",
            "ì": "i",
            "í": "i",
            "î": "i",
            "ï": "i",
            "ñ": "n",
            "ò": "o",
            "ó": "o",
            "ô": "o",
            "õ": "o",
            "ö": "o",
            "ø": "o",
            "ù": "u",
            "ú": "u",
            "û": "u",
            "ü": "u",
            "ý": "y",
            "ÿ": "y",
            "Ā": "A",
            "ā": "a",
            "Ă": "A",
            "ă": "a",
            "Ą": "A",
            "ą": "a",
            "Ć": "C",
            "ć": "c",
            "Ĉ": "C",
            "ĉ": "c",
            "Ċ": "C",
            "ċ": "c",
            "Č": "C",
            "č": "c",
            "Ď": "D",
            "ď": "d",
            "Đ": "D",
            "đ": "d",
            "Ē": "E",
            "ē": "e",
            "Ĕ": "E",
            "ĕ": "e",
            "Ė": "E",
            "ė": "e",
            "Ę": "E",
            "ę": "e",
            "Ě": "E",
            "ě": "e",
            "Ĝ": "G",
            "ĝ": "g",
            "Ğ": "G",
            "ğ": "g",
            "Ġ": "G",
            "ġ": "g",
            "Ģ": "G",
            "ģ": "g",
            "Ĥ": "H",
            "ĥ": "h",
            "Ħ": "H",
            "ħ": "h",
            "Ĩ": "I",
            "ĩ": "i",
            "Ī": "I",
            "ī": "i",
            "Ĭ": "I",
            "ĭ": "i",
            "Į": "I",
            "į": "i",
            "İ": "I",
            "ı": "i",
            "Ĳ": "IJ",
            "ĳ": "ij",
            "Ĵ": "J",
            "ĵ": "j",
            "Ķ": "K",
            "ķ": "k",
            "Ĺ": "L",
            "ĺ": "l",
            "Ļ": "L",
            "ļ": "l",
            "Ľ": "L",
            "ľ": "l",
            "Ŀ": "L",
            "ŀ": "l",
            "Ł": "l",
            "ł": "l",
            "Ń": "N",
            "ń": "n",
            "Ņ": "N",
            "ņ": "n",
            "Ň": "N",
            "ň": "n",
            "ŉ": "n",
            "Ō": "O",
            "ō": "o",
            "Ŏ": "O",
            "ŏ": "o",
            "Ő": "O",
            "ő": "o",
            "Œ": "OE",
            "œ": "oe",
            "Ŕ": "R",
            "ŕ": "r",
            "Ŗ": "R",
            "ŗ": "r",
            "Ř": "R",
            "ř": "r",
            "Ś": "S",
            "ś": "s",
            "Ŝ": "S",
            "ŝ": "s",
            "Ş": "S",
            "ş": "s",
            "Š": "S",
            "š": "s",
            "Ţ": "T",
            "ţ": "t",
            "Ť": "T",
            "ť": "t",
            "Ŧ": "T",
            "ŧ": "t",
            "Ũ": "U",
            "ũ": "u",
            "Ū": "U",
            "ū": "u",
            "Ŭ": "U",
            "ŭ": "u",
            "Ů": "U",
            "ů": "u",
            "Ű": "U",
            "ű": "u",
            "Ų": "U",
            "ų": "u",
            "Ŵ": "W",
            "ŵ": "w",
            "Ŷ": "Y",
            "ŷ": "y",
            "Ÿ": "Y",
            "Ź": "Z",
            "ź": "z",
            "Ż": "Z",
            "ż": "z",
            "Ž": "Z",
            "ž": "z",
            "ſ": "s",
            "ƒ": "f",
            "Ơ": "O",
            "ơ": "o",
            "Ư": "U",
            "ư": "u",
            "Ǎ": "A",
            "ǎ": "a",
            "Ǐ": "I",
            "ǐ": "i",
            "Ǒ": "O",
            "ǒ": "o",
            "Ǔ": "U",
            "ǔ": "u",
            "Ǖ": "U",
            "ǖ": "u",
            "Ǘ": "U",
            "ǘ": "u",
            "Ǚ": "U",
            "ǚ": "u",
            "Ǜ": "U",
            "ǜ": "u",
            "Ǻ": "A",
            "ǻ": "a",
            "Ǽ": "AE",
            "ǽ": "ae",
            "Ǿ": "O",
            "ǿ": "o"
        },
        nonWord = /\W/g,
        mapping = function (c) {
            return map[c] || c; 
        };


    return function (str) {
        return str.replace(nonWord, mapping);
    };
}());

Pottery answered 1/6, 2013 at 20:56 Comment(5)

This builds the character map with every call of replace(), exactly what I've been trying to avoid. The use of /\W/ is a nice touch, even though it will attempt to replace every space, digit and punctuation. – Isogonic 1/6, 2013 at 21:17

The first point is easily solved by adding the map and the replacement function to an outer closure, which is what I've just done. – Isogonic 1/6, 2013 at 21:36

...I don't understand your last edit. Why did you remove the replacement function from the closure? – Isogonic 2/6, 2013 at 2:8

@Isogonic I had the thought that function expressions are a bit slower then direct calls. However, after a bit research I came to the conclusion that this makes no sense in this case. Better now? – Pottery 2/6, 2013 at 8:50

Yes, that's all-right now. Whether you store a function expression in a variable and use that (like mapping) or pass a function expression as an argument (like foo(function () {...}), the way you did it in the previous revision) makes no difference, semantically. The latter is not a direct call, it's just a function expression that is never being stored. – Isogonic 2/6, 2013 at 9:19

Not a single answer mentions String.localeCompare, which happens to do exactly what you originally wanted, but not what you're asking for.

var list = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'o', 'u', 'z', 'ä', 'ö', 'ü'];

list.sort((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b));

console.log(list);

//Outputs ['a', 'ä', 'b', 'c', 'o', 'ö', 'u', 'ü', 'z']

The second and third parameter are not supported by older browsers though. It's an option worth considering nonetheless.

Reprieve answered 10/2, 2017 at 15:29 Comment(2)

Nice addition! In this particular case I had no influence on how the strings were compared, as this is done by TableSorter internally. I could only influence what strings I want to use. Therefore, replacing them was the only option at the time. Maybe more modern versions of TableSorter have better internal handling of these things. – Isogonic 10/2, 2017 at 16:8

I've added special mention of this answer to the question. – Isogonic 10/2, 2017 at 16:14

I just wanted to post my solution using String#localeCompare

const base_chars = [
  '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9',
  '0', 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g', 'h',
  'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q',
  'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z',
  '-', '_', ' '
];
const fix = str => str.normalize('NFKD').split('')
    .map(c => base_chars.find(bc => bc.localeCompare(c, 'en', { sensitivity: 'base' })==0))
    .join('');

const str = 'OÒ óëå-123';
console.log(`fix(${str}) = ${fix(str)}`);

Bandwidth answered 24/5, 2017 at 14:59 Comment(0)

https://lodash.com/docs/4.17.15#deburr

It took me a while to find this, hope it'll help somebody else too.

Countryfied answered 19/1, 2023 at 15:59 Comment(1)

The name function in Lodash is not very explicit, indeed. Thanks for the link! – Orthorhombic 10/7, 2023 at 11:47

Long time ago I did this in Java and found someone else's solution based on a single string that captures part of the Unicode table that was important for the conversion - the rest was converted to ? or any other replacement character. So I tried to convert it to JavaScript. Mind that I'm no JS expert. :-)

TAB_00C0 = "AAAAAAACEEEEIIII" +
    "DNOOOOO*OUUUUYIs" +
    "aaaaaaaceeeeiiii" +
    "?nooooo/ouuuuy?y" +
    "AaAaAaCcCcCcCcDd" +
    "DdEeEeEeEeEeGgGg" +
    "GgGgHhHhIiIiIiIi" +
    "IiJjJjKkkLlLlLlL" +
    "lLlNnNnNnnNnOoOo" +
    "OoOoRrRrRrSsSsSs" +
    "SsTtTtTtUuUuUuUu" +
    "UuUuWwYyYZzZzZzF";

function stripDiacritics(source) {
    var result = source.split('');
    for (var i = 0; i < result.length; i++) {
        var c = source.charCodeAt(i);
        if (c >= 0x00c0 && c <= 0x017f) {
            result[i] = String.fromCharCode(TAB_00C0.charCodeAt(c - 0x00c0));
        } else if (c > 127) {
            result[i] = '?';
        }
    }
    return result.join('');
}

stripDiacritics("Šupa, čo? ľšťčžýæøåℌð")

This converts most of latin1+2 Unicode characters. It is not able to translate single char to multiple. I don't know its performance on JS, in Java this is by far the fastest of common solutions (6-50x), there is no map, there is no regex, nothing. It produces strict ASCII output, potentially with a loss of information, but the size of the output matches the input.

I tested the snippet with http://www.webtoolkitonline.com/javascript-tester.html and it produced Supa, co? lstczyaoa?? as expected.

Jamnis answered 17/8, 2015 at 12:30 Comment(2)

This is pretty nifty. Thanks for sharing! – Isogonic 17/8, 2015 at 16:36

Recently I compared this one with "Šupa, čo? ľšťčžýæøåℌð".normalize ("NFKD").replace (/[\u0300-\u036F]/g, "") and was surprised that normalize+replace (regex, mind you) is roughly twice as fast! I blame these things being built-ins and massively optimized, but it's undeniable. Other thing is that it does not exactly do the same for some characters. Result is: Supa, co? lstczyæøaHð - so æøð are not resolved, but on the other hand it covers ℌð which was out of range of my table. Knowing this I prefer normalize+replace, honestly. – Jamnis 12/8, 2019 at 12:23

If you want to achieve sorting where "ä" comes after "a" and is not treated as the same, then you can use a function like mine.

You can always change the alphabet to get different or even weird sortings. However, if you want some letters to be equivalent, then you have to manipulate the strings like a = a.replace(/ä/, 'a') or similar, as many have already replied above. I've included the uppercase letters if someone wants to have all uppercase words before all lowercase words (then you have to ommit .toLowerCase()).

function sortbyalphabet(a,b) {
        alphabet = "0123456789AaÀàÁáÂâÃãÄäBbCcÇçDdÈèÉéÊêËëFfGgHhÌìÍíÎîÏïJjKkLlMmNnÑñOoÒòÓóÔôÕõÖöPpQqRrSsTtÙùÚúÛûÜüVvWwXxÝýŸÿZz";
        a = a.toLowerCase();
        b = b.toLowerCase();
        shorterone = (a.length > b.length ? a : b);
        for (i=0; i<shorterone.length; i++){
            diff = alphabet.indexOf(a.charAt(i)) - alphabet.indexOf(b.charAt(i));
            if (diff!=0){
                return diff;
            }
        }
        // sort the shorter first
        return a.length - b.length;
    }
    var n = ["ast", "Äste", "apfel", "äpfel", "à"];
    console.log(n.sort(sortbyalphabet));
    // should return ["apfel", "ast", "à", "äpfel", "äste"]

Concubine answered 22/7, 2012 at 9:4 Comment(1)

The idea is good, the implementation can be improved. 1) You did not use the var keyword. This means every variable you declare is global. That's certainly not what you had in mind (there is no automatic function scope in JS). Forgetting var makes nasty bugs. 2) You should use a closure instead of re-defining the alphabet with every function call. 3) You do neither type checking and nor strict comparisons. -- I've created an optimized version of your function here: jsperf.com/collation-string-sorting. Both on Chrome and IE it's around 4 times as fast as your approach. – Isogonic 22/7, 2012 at 10:26

A simple and easy way:

function remove-accents(p){
c='áàãâäéèêëíìîïóòõôöúùûüçÁÀÃÂÄÉÈÊËÍÌÎÏÓÒÕÖÔÚÙÛÜÇ';s='aaaaaeeeeiiiiooooouuuucAAAAAEEEEIIIIOOOOOUUUUC';n='';for(i=0;i<p.length;i++){if(c.search(p.substr(i,1))>=0){n+=s.substr(c.search(p.substr(i,1)),1);} else{n+=p.substr(i,1);}} return n;
}

So do this:

remove-accents("Thís ís ân accêntéd phráse");

Output:

"This is an accented phrase"

Gibert answered 7/2, 2017 at 16:37 Comment(0)

Answer os Crisalin is almost perfect. Just improved the performance to avoid create new RegExp on each run.

var normalizeConversions = [
    { regex: new RegExp('ä|æ|ǽ', 'g'), clean: 'ae' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ö|œ', 'g'), clean: 'oe' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ü', 'g'), clean: 'ue' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ä', 'g'), clean: 'Ae' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ü', 'g'), clean: 'Ue' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ö', 'g'), clean: 'Oe' },
    { regex: new RegExp('À|Á|Â|Ã|Ä|Å|Ǻ|Ā|Ă|Ą|Ǎ', 'g'), clean: 'A' },
    { regex: new RegExp('à|á|â|ã|å|ǻ|ā|ă|ą|ǎ|ª', 'g'), clean: 'a' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ç|Ć|Ĉ|Ċ|Č', 'g'), clean: 'C' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ç|ć|ĉ|ċ|č', 'g'), clean: 'c' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ð|Ď|Đ', 'g'), clean: 'D' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ð|ď|đ', 'g'), clean: 'd' },
    { regex: new RegExp('È|É|Ê|Ë|Ē|Ĕ|Ė|Ę|Ě', 'g'), clean: 'E' },
    { regex: new RegExp('è|é|ê|ë|ē|ĕ|ė|ę|ě', 'g'), clean: 'e' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ĝ|Ğ|Ġ|Ģ', 'g'), clean: 'G' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ĝ|ğ|ġ|ģ', 'g'), clean: 'g' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ĥ|Ħ', 'g'), clean: 'H' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ĥ|ħ', 'g'), clean: 'h' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ì|Í|Î|Ï|Ĩ|Ī|Ĭ|Ǐ|Į|İ', 'g'), clean: 'I' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ì|í|î|ï|ĩ|ī|ĭ|ǐ|į|ı', 'g'), clean: 'i' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ĵ', 'g'), clean: 'J' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ĵ', 'g'), clean: 'j' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ķ', 'g'), clean: 'K' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ķ', 'g'), clean: 'k' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ĺ|Ļ|Ľ|Ŀ|Ł', 'g'), clean: 'L' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ĺ|ļ|ľ|ŀ|ł', 'g'), clean: 'l' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ñ|Ń|Ņ|Ň', 'g'), clean: 'N' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ñ|ń|ņ|ň|ŉ', 'g'), clean: 'n' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ò|Ó|Ô|Õ|Ō|Ŏ|Ǒ|Ő|Ơ|Ø|Ǿ', 'g'), clean: 'O' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ò|ó|ô|õ|ō|ŏ|ǒ|ő|ơ|ø|ǿ|º', 'g'), clean: 'o' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ŕ|Ŗ|Ř', 'g'), clean: 'R' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ŕ|ŗ|ř', 'g'), clean: 'r' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ś|Ŝ|Ş|Š', 'g'), clean: 'S' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ś|ŝ|ş|š|ſ', 'g'), clean: 's' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ţ|Ť|Ŧ', 'g'), clean: 'T' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ţ|ť|ŧ', 'g'), clean: 't' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ù|Ú|Û|Ũ|Ū|Ŭ|Ů|Ű|Ų|Ư|Ǔ|Ǖ|Ǘ|Ǚ|Ǜ', 'g'), clean: 'U' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ù|ú|û|ũ|ū|ŭ|ů|ű|ų|ư|ǔ|ǖ|ǘ|ǚ|ǜ', 'g'), clean: 'u' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ý|Ÿ|Ŷ', 'g'), clean: 'Y' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ý|ÿ|ŷ', 'g'), clean: 'y' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ŵ', 'g'), clean: 'W' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ŵ', 'g'), clean: 'w' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ź|Ż|Ž', 'g'), clean: 'Z' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ź|ż|ž', 'g'), clean: 'z' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Æ|Ǽ', 'g'), clean: 'AE' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ß', 'g'), clean: 'ss' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Ĳ', 'g'), clean: 'IJ' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ĳ', 'g'), clean: 'ij' },
    { regex: new RegExp('Œ', 'g'), clean: 'OE' },
    { regex: new RegExp('ƒ', 'g'), clean: 'f' }
];

Usage:

function(str){
    normalizeConversions.forEach(function(normalizeEntry){
        str = str.replace(normalizeEntry.regex, normalizeEntry.clean);
    });
    return str;
};

Fray answered 13/6, 2018 at 13:55 Comment(9)

I think you can save some space by using regex literals, and character classes are more efficient than alternations. The real performance hit though will be the execution of so many regexes over the same string. Regex is slow. 100 regexes are slow*100. It's much more efficient to execute a single regex that matches 100 characters and look up the replacements, like the accepted answer does it, than it is to execute 100 regexes in a loop. On top of that, JS strings are immutable, so you are allocating (number of regexes-1) throw-away strings with this approach, which is pretty wasteful, too. – Isogonic 13/6, 2018 at 14:8

There are 2 things here: memory and processing performance. About memory usage you are right, this approach allocate more memory but today, all devices have lots of memory and it's not that much memory to allocate. About processing performance, I think you are mistaken. I'm not matching 100 characters and look for the replacement. I'm doing exacly the same of Crisalin answer, but instead of creating a RegExp at each loop increment, I create them once reuse them at each call. Use a little more memory but much more quick. – Fray 13/6, 2018 at 15:4

You are applying 100 (ok, currently 50) regexes in a loop, constantly creating new strings in the processes. This is inefficient. Try it out. Try with long strings, too. – Isogonic 13/6, 2018 at 16:11

I just don't understand where my answer has worst performance than Crisalin Petrovschi answer. I'm doing exactly the same, but more quickly. Not saying is the best, but it's an improvement of Crisalin solution and that was the only goal of my answer. – Fray 13/6, 2018 at 16:15

This might be. I'm not comparing your approaches. Everything I'm pointing out in your approach applies to his as well. (There is a global cache for regular expressions, constantly creating the same ones does not affect performance as badly as you might think.) – Isogonic 13/6, 2018 at 16:19

Where is the specification of that regex global cache? Never heard nothing about that. And btw, regexes are not slow as you might think, they are very quick in fact, it all depends on how you write them. But anyway, I was just improving Crisalin answer and not comparing it with the accepted answer. – Fray 13/6, 2018 at 16:51

I'm not going to argue with you. Caching is implementation-specific, there is no "specification" for that in the language. Feel free to take a look at what node.js does (source). It's reasonable to assume that costly operations like creating a regex object are cached in most other JS implementations as well. – Isogonic 13/6, 2018 at 17:34

I'm not arguing with you, I was honestly interested and about to delete my answer because if what you say is true, Crisalin answer has the same performance than mine. But we cannot program assuming things, so I will keep my answer. – Fray 14/6, 2018 at 9:39

That's absolutely fine. I wasn't trying to make you delete your answer. – Isogonic 14/6, 2018 at 11:23

I've solved it another way, if you like.

Here I used two arrays where searchChars containing which will be replaced and replaceChars containing desired characters.

var text = "your input string";
var searchChars = ['Å','Ä','å','Ö','ö']; // add more charecter.
var replaceChars = ['A','A','a','O','o']; // exact same index to searchChars.
var index;
for (var i = 0; i < text.length; i++) {
  if( $.inArray(text[i], searchChars) >-1 ){ // $.inArray() is from jquery.
    index = searchChars.indexOf(text[i]);
    text = text.slice(0, i) + replaceChars[index] + text.slice(i+1,text.length);
  }
}

Cutlass answered 30/12, 2016 at 18:42 Comment(1)

This is extremely inefficient. You would be well-advised to pick one of the other solutions. – Isogonic 30/12, 2016 at 19:44

For the lads using TypeScript and those who don't want to deal with string prototypes, here is a typescript version of Ed.'s answer:

    // Usage example:
    "Some string".replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-_]/g, char => ToLatinMap.get(char) || '')

    // Map:
    export let ToLatinMap: Map<string, string> = new Map<string, string>([
        ["Á", "A"],
        ["Ă", "A"],
        ["Ắ", "A"],
        ["Ặ", "A"],
        ["Ằ", "A"],
        ["Ẳ", "A"],
        ["Ẵ", "A"],
        ["Ǎ", "A"],
        ["Â", "A"],
        ["Ấ", "A"],
        ["Ậ", "A"],
        ["Ầ", "A"],
        ["Ẩ", "A"],
        ["Ẫ", "A"],
        ["Ä", "A"],
        ["Ǟ", "A"],
        ["Ȧ", "A"],
        ["Ǡ", "A"],
        ["Ạ", "A"],
        ["Ȁ", "A"],
        ["À", "A"],
        ["Ả", "A"],
        ["Ȃ", "A"],
        ["Ā", "A"],
        ["Ą", "A"],
        ["Å", "A"],
        ["Ǻ", "A"],
        ["Ḁ", "A"],
        ["Ⱥ", "A"],
        ["Ã", "A"],
        ["Ꜳ", "AA"],
        ["Æ", "AE"],
        ["Ǽ", "AE"],
        ["Ǣ", "AE"],
        ["Ꜵ", "AO"],
        ["Ꜷ", "AU"],
        ["Ꜹ", "AV"],
        ["Ꜻ", "AV"],
        ["Ꜽ", "AY"],
        ["Ḃ", "B"],
        ["Ḅ", "B"],
        ["Ɓ", "B"],
        ["Ḇ", "B"],
        ["Ƀ", "B"],
        ["Ƃ", "B"],
        ["Ć", "C"],
        ["Č", "C"],
        ["Ç", "C"],
        ["Ḉ", "C"],
        ["Ĉ", "C"],
        ["Ċ", "C"],
        ["Ƈ", "C"],
        ["Ȼ", "C"],
        ["Ď", "D"],
        ["Ḑ", "D"],
        ["Ḓ", "D"],
        ["Ḋ", "D"],
        ["Ḍ", "D"],
        ["Ɗ", "D"],
        ["Ḏ", "D"],
        ["ǲ", "D"],
        ["ǅ", "D"],
        ["Đ", "D"],
        ["Ƌ", "D"],
        ["Ǳ", "DZ"],
        ["Ǆ", "DZ"],
        ["É", "E"],
        ["Ĕ", "E"],
        ["Ě", "E"],
        ["Ȩ", "E"],
        ["Ḝ", "E"],
        ["Ê", "E"],
        ["Ế", "E"],
        ["Ệ", "E"],
        ["Ề", "E"],
        ["Ể", "E"],
        ["Ễ", "E"],
        ["Ḙ", "E"],
        ["Ë", "E"],
        ["Ė", "E"],
        ["Ẹ", "E"],
        ["Ȅ", "E"],
        ["È", "E"],
        ["Ẻ", "E"],
        ["Ȇ", "E"],
        ["Ē", "E"],
        ["Ḗ", "E"],
        ["Ḕ", "E"],
        ["Ę", "E"],
        ["Ɇ", "E"],
        ["Ẽ", "E"],
        ["Ḛ", "E"],
        ["Ꝫ", "ET"],
        ["Ḟ", "F"],
        ["Ƒ", "F"],
        ["Ǵ", "G"],
        ["Ğ", "G"],
        ["Ǧ", "G"],
        ["Ģ", "G"],
        ["Ĝ", "G"],
        ["Ġ", "G"],
        ["Ɠ", "G"],
        ["Ḡ", "G"],
        ["Ǥ", "G"],
        ["Ḫ", "H"],
        ["Ȟ", "H"],
        ["Ḩ", "H"],
        ["Ĥ", "H"],
        ["Ⱨ", "H"],
        ["Ḧ", "H"],
        ["Ḣ", "H"],
        ["Ḥ", "H"],
        ["Ħ", "H"],
        ["Í", "I"],
        ["Ĭ", "I"],
        ["Ǐ", "I"],
        ["Î", "I"],
        ["Ï", "I"],
        ["Ḯ", "I"],
        ["İ", "I"],
        ["Ị", "I"],
        ["Ȉ", "I"],
        ["Ì", "I"],
        ["Ỉ", "I"],
        ["Ȋ", "I"],
        ["Ī", "I"],
        ["Į", "I"],
        ["Ɨ", "I"],
        ["Ĩ", "I"],
        ["Ḭ", "I"],
        ["Ꝺ", "D"],
        ["Ꝼ", "F"],
        ["Ᵹ", "G"],
        ["Ꞃ", "R"],
        ["Ꞅ", "S"],
        ["Ꞇ", "T"],
        ["Ꝭ", "IS"],
        ["Ĵ", "J"],
        ["Ɉ", "J"],
        ["Ḱ", "K"],
        ["Ǩ", "K"],
        ["Ķ", "K"],
        ["Ⱪ", "K"],
        ["Ꝃ", "K"],
        ["Ḳ", "K"],
        ["Ƙ", "K"],
        ["Ḵ", "K"],
        ["Ꝁ", "K"],
        ["Ꝅ", "K"],
        ["Ĺ", "L"],
        ["Ƚ", "L"],
        ["Ľ", "L"],
        ["Ļ", "L"],
        ["Ḽ", "L"],
        ["Ḷ", "L"],
        ["Ḹ", "L"],
        ["Ⱡ", "L"],
        ["Ꝉ", "L"],
        ["Ḻ", "L"],
        ["Ŀ", "L"],
        ["Ɫ", "L"],
        ["ǈ", "L"],
        ["Ł", "L"],
        ["Ǉ", "LJ"],
        ["Ḿ", "M"],
        ["Ṁ", "M"],
        ["Ṃ", "M"],
        ["Ɱ", "M"],
        ["Ń", "N"],
        ["Ň", "N"],
        ["Ņ", "N"],
        ["Ṋ", "N"],
        ["Ṅ", "N"],
        ["Ṇ", "N"],
        ["Ǹ", "N"],
        ["Ɲ", "N"],
        ["Ṉ", "N"],
        ["Ƞ", "N"],
        ["ǋ", "N"],
        ["Ñ", "N"],
        ["Ǌ", "NJ"],
        ["Ó", "O"],
        ["Ŏ", "O"],
        ["Ǒ", "O"],
        ["Ô", "O"],
        ["Ố", "O"],
        ["Ộ", "O"],
        ["Ồ", "O"],
        ["Ổ", "O"],
        ["Ỗ", "O"],
        ["Ö", "O"],
        ["Ȫ", "O"],
        ["Ȯ", "O"],
        ["Ȱ", "O"],
        ["Ọ", "O"],
        ["Ő", "O"],
        ["Ȍ", "O"],
        ["Ò", "O"],
        ["Ỏ", "O"],
        ["Ơ", "O"],
        ["Ớ", "O"],
        ["Ợ", "O"],
        ["Ờ", "O"],
        ["Ở", "O"],
        ["Ỡ", "O"],
        ["Ȏ", "O"],
        ["Ꝋ", "O"],
        ["Ꝍ", "O"],
        ["Ō", "O"],
        ["Ṓ", "O"],
        ["Ṑ", "O"],
        ["Ɵ", "O"],
        ["Ǫ", "O"],
        ["Ǭ", "O"],
        ["Ø", "O"],
        ["Ǿ", "O"],
        ["Õ", "O"],
        ["Ṍ", "O"],
        ["Ṏ", "O"],
        ["Ȭ", "O"],
        ["Ƣ", "OI"],
        ["Ꝏ", "OO"],
        ["Ɛ", "E"],
        ["Ɔ", "O"],
        ["Ȣ", "OU"],
        ["Ṕ", "P"],
        ["Ṗ", "P"],
        ["Ꝓ", "P"],
        ["Ƥ", "P"],
        ["Ꝕ", "P"],
        ["Ᵽ", "P"],
        ["Ꝑ", "P"],
        ["Ꝙ", "Q"],
        ["Ꝗ", "Q"],
        ["Ŕ", "R"],
        ["Ř", "R"],
        ["Ŗ", "R"],
        ["Ṙ", "R"],
        ["Ṛ", "R"],
        ["Ṝ", "R"],
        ["Ȑ", "R"],
        ["Ȓ", "R"],
        ["Ṟ", "R"],
        ["Ɍ", "R"],
        ["Ɽ", "R"],
        ["Ꜿ", "C"],
        ["Ǝ", "E"],
        ["Ś", "S"],
        ["Ṥ", "S"],
        ["Š", "S"],
        ["Ṧ", "S"],
        ["Ş", "S"],
        ["Ŝ", "S"],
        ["Ș", "S"],
        ["Ṡ", "S"],
        ["Ṣ", "S"],
        ["Ṩ", "S"],
        ["Ť", "T"],
        ["Ţ", "T"],
        ["Ṱ", "T"],
        ["Ț", "T"],
        ["Ⱦ", "T"],
        ["Ṫ", "T"],
        ["Ṭ", "T"],
        ["Ƭ", "T"],
        ["Ṯ", "T"],
        ["Ʈ", "T"],
        ["Ŧ", "T"],
        ["Ɐ", "A"],
        ["Ꞁ", "L"],
        ["Ɯ", "M"],
        ["Ʌ", "V"],
        ["Ꜩ", "TZ"],
        ["Ú", "U"],
        ["Ŭ", "U"],
        ["Ǔ", "U"],
        ["Û", "U"],
        ["Ṷ", "U"],
        ["Ü", "U"],
        ["Ǘ", "U"],
        ["Ǚ", "U"],
        ["Ǜ", "U"],
        ["Ǖ", "U"],
        ["Ṳ", "U"],
        ["Ụ", "U"],
        ["Ű", "U"],
        ["Ȕ", "U"],
        ["Ù", "U"],
        ["Ủ", "U"],
        ["Ư", "U"],
        ["Ứ", "U"],
        ["Ự", "U"],
        ["Ừ", "U"],
        ["Ử", "U"],
        ["Ữ", "U"],
        ["Ȗ", "U"],
        ["Ū", "U"],
        ["Ṻ", "U"],
        ["Ų", "U"],
        ["Ů", "U"],
        ["Ũ", "U"],
        ["Ṹ", "U"],
        ["Ṵ", "U"],
        ["Ꝟ", "V"],
        ["Ṿ", "V"],
        ["Ʋ", "V"],
        ["Ṽ", "V"],
        ["Ꝡ", "VY"],
        ["Ẃ", "W"],
        ["Ŵ", "W"],
        ["Ẅ", "W"],
        ["Ẇ", "W"],
        ["Ẉ", "W"],
        ["Ẁ", "W"],
        ["Ⱳ", "W"],
        ["Ẍ", "X"],
        ["Ẋ", "X"],
        ["Ý", "Y"],
        ["Ŷ", "Y"],
        ["Ÿ", "Y"],
        ["Ẏ", "Y"],
        ["Ỵ", "Y"],
        ["Ỳ", "Y"],
        ["Ƴ", "Y"],
        ["Ỷ", "Y"],
        ["Ỿ", "Y"],
        ["Ȳ", "Y"],
        ["Ɏ", "Y"],
        ["Ỹ", "Y"],
        ["Ź", "Z"],
        ["Ž", "Z"],
        ["Ẑ", "Z"],
        ["Ⱬ", "Z"],
        ["Ż", "Z"],
        ["Ẓ", "Z"],
        ["Ȥ", "Z"],
        ["Ẕ", "Z"],
        ["Ƶ", "Z"],
        ["Ĳ", "IJ"],
        ["Œ", "OE"],
        ["ᴀ", "A"],
        ["ᴁ", "AE"],
        ["ʙ", "B"],
        ["ᴃ", "B"],
        ["ᴄ", "C"],
        ["ᴅ", "D"],
        ["ᴇ", "E"],
        ["ꜰ", "F"],
        ["ɢ", "G"],
        ["ʛ", "G"],
        ["ʜ", "H"],
        ["ɪ", "I"],
        ["ʁ", "R"],
        ["ᴊ", "J"],
        ["ᴋ", "K"],
        ["ʟ", "L"],
        ["ᴌ", "L"],
        ["ᴍ", "M"],
        ["ɴ", "N"],
        ["ᴏ", "O"],
        ["ɶ", "OE"],
        ["ᴐ", "O"],
        ["ᴕ", "OU"],
        ["ᴘ", "P"],
        ["ʀ", "R"],
        ["ᴎ", "N"],
        ["ᴙ", "R"],
        ["ꜱ", "S"],
        ["ᴛ", "T"],
        ["ⱻ", "E"],
        ["ᴚ", "R"],
        ["ᴜ", "U"],
        ["ᴠ", "V"],
        ["ᴡ", "W"],
        ["ʏ", "Y"],
        ["ᴢ", "Z"],
        ["á", "a"],
        ["ă", "a"],
        ["ắ", "a"],
        ["ặ", "a"],
        ["ằ", "a"],
        ["ẳ", "a"],
        ["ẵ", "a"],
        ["ǎ", "a"],
        ["â", "a"],
        ["ấ", "a"],
        ["ậ", "a"],
        ["ầ", "a"],
        ["ẩ", "a"],
        ["ẫ", "a"],
        ["ä", "a"],
        ["ǟ", "a"],
        ["ȧ", "a"],
        ["ǡ", "a"],
        ["ạ", "a"],
        ["ȁ", "a"],
        ["à", "a"],
        ["ả", "a"],
        ["ȃ", "a"],
        ["ā", "a"],
        ["ą", "a"],
        ["ᶏ", "a"],
        ["ẚ", "a"],
        ["å", "a"],
        ["ǻ", "a"],
        ["ḁ", "a"],
        ["ⱥ", "a"],
        ["ã", "a"],
        ["ꜳ", "aa"],
        ["æ", "ae"],
        ["ǽ", "ae"],
        ["ǣ", "ae"],
        ["ꜵ", "ao"],
        ["ꜷ", "au"],
        ["ꜹ", "av"],
        ["ꜻ", "av"],
        ["ꜽ", "ay"],
        ["ḃ", "b"],
        ["ḅ", "b"],
        ["ɓ", "b"],
        ["ḇ", "b"],
        ["ᵬ", "b"],
        ["ᶀ", "b"],
        ["ƀ", "b"],
        ["ƃ", "b"],
        ["ɵ", "o"],
        ["ć", "c"],
        ["č", "c"],
        ["ç", "c"],
        ["ḉ", "c"],
        ["ĉ", "c"],
        ["ɕ", "c"],
        ["ċ", "c"],
        ["ƈ", "c"],
        ["ȼ", "c"],
        ["ď", "d"],
        ["ḑ", "d"],
        ["ḓ", "d"],
        ["ȡ", "d"],
        ["ḋ", "d"],
        ["ḍ", "d"],
        ["ɗ", "d"],
        ["ᶑ", "d"],
        ["ḏ", "d"],
        ["ᵭ", "d"],
        ["ᶁ", "d"],
        ["đ", "d"],
        ["ɖ", "d"],
        ["ƌ", "d"],
        ["ı", "i"],
        ["ȷ", "j"],
        ["ɟ", "j"],
        ["ʄ", "j"],
        ["ǳ", "dz"],
        ["ǆ", "dz"],
        ["é", "e"],
        ["ĕ", "e"],
        ["ě", "e"],
        ["ȩ", "e"],
        ["ḝ", "e"],
        ["ê", "e"],
        ["ế", "e"],
        ["ệ", "e"],
        ["ề", "e"],
        ["ể", "e"],
        ["ễ", "e"],
        ["ḙ", "e"],
        ["ë", "e"],
        ["ė", "e"],
        ["ẹ", "e"],
        ["ȅ", "e"],
        ["è", "e"],
        ["ẻ", "e"],
        ["ȇ", "e"],
        ["ē", "e"],
        ["ḗ", "e"],
        ["ḕ", "e"],
        ["ⱸ", "e"],
        ["ę", "e"],
        ["ᶒ", "e"],
        ["ɇ", "e"],
        ["ẽ", "e"],
        ["ḛ", "e"],
        ["ꝫ", "et"],
        ["ḟ", "f"],
        ["ƒ", "f"],
        ["ᵮ", "f"],
        ["ᶂ", "f"],
        ["ǵ", "g"],
        ["ğ", "g"],
        ["ǧ", "g"],
        ["ģ", "g"],
        ["ĝ", "g"],
        ["ġ", "g"],
        ["ɠ", "g"],
        ["ḡ", "g"],
        ["ᶃ", "g"],
        ["ǥ", "g"],
        ["ḫ", "h"],
        ["ȟ", "h"],
        ["ḩ", "h"],
        ["ĥ", "h"],
        ["ⱨ", "h"],
        ["ḧ", "h"],
        ["ḣ", "h"],
        ["ḥ", "h"],
        ["ɦ", "h"],
        ["ẖ", "h"],
        ["ħ", "h"],
        ["ƕ", "hv"],
        ["í", "i"],
        ["ĭ", "i"],
        ["ǐ", "i"],
        ["î", "i"],
        ["ï", "i"],
        ["ḯ", "i"],
        ["ị", "i"],
        ["ȉ", "i"],
        ["ì", "i"],
        ["ỉ", "i"],
        ["ȋ", "i"],
        ["ī", "i"],
        ["į", "i"],
        ["ᶖ", "i"],
        ["ɨ", "i"],
        ["ĩ", "i"],
        ["ḭ", "i"],
        ["ꝺ", "d"],
        ["ꝼ", "f"],
        ["ᵹ", "g"],
        ["ꞃ", "r"],
        ["ꞅ", "s"],
        ["ꞇ", "t"],
        ["ꝭ", "is"],
        ["ǰ", "j"],
        ["ĵ", "j"],
        ["ʝ", "j"],
        ["ɉ", "j"],
        ["ḱ", "k"],
        ["ǩ", "k"],
        ["ķ", "k"],
        ["ⱪ", "k"],
        ["ꝃ", "k"],
        ["ḳ", "k"],
        ["ƙ", "k"],
        ["ḵ", "k"],
        ["ᶄ", "k"],
        ["ꝁ", "k"],
        ["ꝅ", "k"],
        ["ĺ", "l"],
        ["ƚ", "l"],
        ["ɬ", "l"],
        ["ľ", "l"],
        ["ļ", "l"],
        ["ḽ", "l"],
        ["ȴ", "l"],
        ["ḷ", "l"],
        ["ḹ", "l"],
        ["ⱡ", "l"],
        ["ꝉ", "l"],
        ["ḻ", "l"],
        ["ŀ", "l"],
        ["ɫ", "l"],
        ["ᶅ", "l"],
        ["ɭ", "l"],
        ["ł", "l"],
        ["ǉ", "lj"],
        ["ſ", "s"],
        ["ẜ", "s"],
        ["ẛ", "s"],
        ["ẝ", "s"],
        ["ḿ", "m"],
        ["ṁ", "m"],
        ["ṃ", "m"],
        ["ɱ", "m"],
        ["ᵯ", "m"],
        ["ᶆ", "m"],
        ["ń", "n"],
        ["ň", "n"],
        ["ņ", "n"],
        ["ṋ", "n"],
        ["ȵ", "n"],
        ["ṅ", "n"],
        ["ṇ", "n"],
        ["ǹ", "n"],
        ["ɲ", "n"],
        ["ṉ", "n"],
        ["ƞ", "n"],
        ["ᵰ", "n"],
        ["ᶇ", "n"],
        ["ɳ", "n"],
        ["ñ", "n"],
        ["ǌ", "nj"],
        ["ó", "o"],
        ["ŏ", "o"],
        ["ǒ", "o"],
        ["ô", "o"],
        ["ố", "o"],
        ["ộ", "o"],
        ["ồ", "o"],
        ["ổ", "o"],
        ["ỗ", "o"],
        ["ö", "o"],
        ["ȫ", "o"],
        ["ȯ", "o"],
        ["ȱ", "o"],
        ["ọ", "o"],
        ["ő", "o"],
        ["ȍ", "o"],
        ["ò", "o"],
        ["ỏ", "o"],
        ["ơ", "o"],
        ["ớ", "o"],
        ["ợ", "o"],
        ["ờ", "o"],
        ["ở", "o"],
        ["ỡ", "o"],
        ["ȏ", "o"],
        ["ꝋ", "o"],
        ["ꝍ", "o"],
        ["ⱺ", "o"],
        ["ō", "o"],
        ["ṓ", "o"],
        ["ṑ", "o"],
        ["ǫ", "o"],
        ["ǭ", "o"],
        ["ø", "o"],
        ["ǿ", "o"],
        ["õ", "o"],
        ["ṍ", "o"],
        ["ṏ", "o"],
        ["ȭ", "o"],
        ["ƣ", "oi"],
        ["ꝏ", "oo"],
        ["ɛ", "e"],
        ["ᶓ", "e"],
        ["ɔ", "o"],
        ["ᶗ", "o"],
        ["ȣ", "ou"],
        ["ṕ", "p"],
        ["ṗ", "p"],
        ["ꝓ", "p"],
        ["ƥ", "p"],
        ["ᵱ", "p"],
        ["ᶈ", "p"],
        ["ꝕ", "p"],
        ["ᵽ", "p"],
        ["ꝑ", "p"],
        ["ꝙ", "q"],
        ["ʠ", "q"],
        ["ɋ", "q"],
        ["ꝗ", "q"],
        ["ŕ", "r"],
        ["ř", "r"],
        ["ŗ", "r"],
        ["ṙ", "r"],
        ["ṛ", "r"],
        ["ṝ", "r"],
        ["ȑ", "r"],
        ["ɾ", "r"],
        ["ᵳ", "r"],
        ["ȓ", "r"],
        ["ṟ", "r"],
        ["ɼ", "r"],
        ["ᵲ", "r"],
        ["ᶉ", "r"],
        ["ɍ", "r"],
        ["ɽ", "r"],
        ["ↄ", "c"],
        ["ꜿ", "c"],
        ["ɘ", "e"],
        ["ɿ", "r"],
        ["ś", "s"],
        ["ṥ", "s"],
        ["š", "s"],
        ["ṧ", "s"],
        ["ş", "s"],
        ["ŝ", "s"],
        ["ș", "s"],
        ["ṡ", "s"],
        ["ṣ", "s"],
        ["ṩ", "s"],
        ["ʂ", "s"],
        ["ᵴ", "s"],
        ["ᶊ", "s"],
        ["ȿ", "s"],
        ["ɡ", "g"],
        ["ᴑ", "o"],
        ["ᴓ", "o"],
        ["ᴝ", "u"],
        ["ť", "t"],
        ["ţ", "t"],
        ["ṱ", "t"],
        ["ț", "t"],
        ["ȶ", "t"],
        ["ẗ", "t"],
        ["ⱦ", "t"],
        ["ṫ", "t"],
        ["ṭ", "t"],
        ["ƭ", "t"],
        ["ṯ", "t"],
        ["ᵵ", "t"],
        ["ƫ", "t"],
        ["ʈ", "t"],
        ["ŧ", "t"],
        ["ᵺ", "th"],
        ["ɐ", "a"],
        ["ᴂ", "ae"],
        ["ǝ", "e"],
        ["ᵷ", "g"],
        ["ɥ", "h"],
        ["ʮ", "h"],
        ["ʯ", "h"],
        ["ᴉ", "i"],
        ["ʞ", "k"],
        ["ꞁ", "l"],
        ["ɯ", "m"],
        ["ɰ", "m"],
        ["ᴔ", "oe"],
        ["ɹ", "r"],
        ["ɻ", "r"],
        ["ɺ", "r"],
        ["ⱹ", "r"],
        ["ʇ", "t"],
        ["ʌ", "v"],
        ["ʍ", "w"],
        ["ʎ", "y"],
        ["ꜩ", "tz"],
        ["ú", "u"],
        ["ŭ", "u"],
        ["ǔ", "u"],
        ["û", "u"],
        ["ṷ", "u"],
        ["ü", "u"],
        ["ǘ", "u"],
        ["ǚ", "u"],
        ["ǜ", "u"],
        ["ǖ", "u"],
        ["ṳ", "u"],
        ["ụ", "u"],
        ["ű", "u"],
        ["ȕ", "u"],
        ["ù", "u"],
        ["ủ", "u"],
        ["ư", "u"],
        ["ứ", "u"],
        ["ự", "u"],
        ["ừ", "u"],
        ["ử", "u"],
        ["ữ", "u"],
        ["ȗ", "u"],
        ["ū", "u"],
        ["ṻ", "u"],
        ["ų", "u"],
        ["ᶙ", "u"],
        ["ů", "u"],
        ["ũ", "u"],
        ["ṹ", "u"],
        ["ṵ", "u"],
        ["ᵫ", "ue"],
        ["ꝸ", "um"],
        ["ⱴ", "v"],
        ["ꝟ", "v"],
        ["ṿ", "v"],
        ["ʋ", "v"],
        ["ᶌ", "v"],
        ["ⱱ", "v"],
        ["ṽ", "v"],
        ["ꝡ", "vy"],
        ["ẃ", "w"],
        ["ŵ", "w"],
        ["ẅ", "w"],
        ["ẇ", "w"],
        ["ẉ", "w"],
        ["ẁ", "w"],
        ["ⱳ", "w"],
        ["ẘ", "w"],
        ["ẍ", "x"],
        ["ẋ", "x"],
        ["ᶍ", "x"],
        ["ý", "y"],
        ["ŷ", "y"],
        ["ÿ", "y"],
        ["ẏ", "y"],
        ["ỵ", "y"],
        ["ỳ", "y"],
        ["ƴ", "y"],
        ["ỷ", "y"],
        ["ỿ", "y"],
        ["ȳ", "y"],
        ["ẙ", "y"],
        ["ɏ", "y"],
        ["ỹ", "y"],
        ["ź", "z"],
        ["ž", "z"],
        ["ẑ", "z"],
        ["ʑ", "z"],
        ["ⱬ", "z"],
        ["ż", "z"],
        ["ẓ", "z"],
        ["ȥ", "z"],
        ["ẕ", "z"],
        ["ᵶ", "z"],
        ["ᶎ", "z"],
        ["ʐ", "z"],
        ["ƶ", "z"],
        ["ɀ", "z"],
        ["ﬀ", "ff"],
        ["ﬃ", "ffi"],
        ["ﬄ", "ffl"],
        ["ﬁ", "fi"],
        ["ﬂ", "fl"],
        ["ĳ", "ij"],
        ["œ", "oe"],
        ["ﬆ", "st"],
        ["ₐ", "a"],
        ["ₑ", "e"],
        ["ᵢ", "i"],
        ["ⱼ", "j"],
        ["ₒ", "o"],
        ["ᵣ", "r"],
        ["ᵤ", "u"],
        ["ᵥ", "v"],
        ["ₓ", "x"],
    ]);

Footfall answered 7/1, 2019 at 13:48 Comment(3)

"How to remove all characters that are not in the mapping" was not the question. Also, by now I'd probably use Intl.Collator for this task - at the time of the question and in the environment I needed it for this wasn't an option. – Isogonic 7/1, 2019 at 14:9

How would you use Intl.Collator to map non-latin letters to latin "equivalents"? – Footfall 7/1, 2019 at 16:21

I wouldn't. The original question was about sorting a list of strings correctly with respect to a certain language. Different languages sort strings differently, but plain JS strings lack the necessary knowledge to do it properly. Mapping accented characters to non-accented forms is a workaround. With the availability of native collation support, character mapping becomes a relatively useless operation, as it can never achieve the correctness and speed of collation-based sorting. – Isogonic 7/1, 2019 at 16:45

If you want fastest way of solving this problem, you can use npm package latinize

https://www.npmjs.com/package/latinize

import latinize from 'latinize';
latinize('ỆᶍǍᶆṔƚÉ áéíóúýčďěňřšťžů'); // => 'ExAmPlE aeiouycdenrstzu'

Chagrin answered 24/11, 2022 at 7:23 Comment(0)

Hot tags

Godot Unity Godot Help Programming Godot 4.X GUI GDScript 3D 2D Physics CSharp Godot 3.X VR XR Projects C++

Answers below fall in two categories:

Recommended topics

Hot tags