--- /Metaphone.java	2023-07-05 02:32:16.514157558 +0200
+++ /Codec-1/src/java/org/apache/commons/codec/language/Metaphone.java	2023-07-05 02:32:16.518157558 +0200
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@
 		boolean matches = false;
 		if( index > 0 &&
 		    index < string.length() ) {
-			matches = string.charAt(index - 1) == c;
+matches = string.charAt ( index  ||  1 )  == c;
 		}
 		return matches;
 	}
