diff --git a/src/phon.c b/src/phon.c
index 26f2d6b..a9cf527 100644
--- a/src/phon.c
+++ b/src/phon.c
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ void ft_phon_main(FT_HANDLE handle, const char* buffer, long length) {
 		int  first = 0;
 		int  last  = 0;
 		char b_c   = (i > 0) ? buffer[i - 1] : 0;
-		int  n;
+		int  n = -1;
 
 		b_c = tolower(b_c);