phoneticise BrE
phoneticize AmE

In either case, the user must phoneticize a word before it can be converted into a Chinese character.

One of the very basic errors of this theory was that, in order to recognize the written word, the child first had to be able to "phoneticize" it.

Taiko players commonly phoneticize a right-handed bachi stroke with don, do, tsu, or ka, respectively; and a reserve kon, ko, ku, and ra for left-handed strokes.