Accepts a term, queries DBpedia for page redirects, returns a set of synonyms.

dbpedia_redirects.py

import sys
from SPARQLWrapper import SPARQLWrapper, JSON, XML, N3, RDF

def dbpedia(term):
    term = term.strip()
    nterm = term.capitalize().replace(' ','_')

    query = """
    PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>
    SELECT ?label
    WHERE 
    { 
     {
     <http://dbpedia.org/resource/VALUE> <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/wikiPageRedirects> ?x.
     ?x rdfs:label ?label.
     }
     UNION
     { 
     <http://dbpedia.org/resource/VALUE> <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/wikiPageRedirects> ?y.
     ?x <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/wikiPageRedirects> ?y.
     ?x rdfs:label ?label.
     }
    UNION
     {
     ?x <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/wikiPageRedirects> <http://dbpedia.org/resource/VALUE>.
     ?x rdfs:label ?label.
     }
     UNION
     { 
     ?y <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/wikiPageRedirects> <http://dbpedia.org/resource/VALUE>.
     ?x <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/wikiPageRedirects> ?y.
     ?x rdfs:label ?label.
     }
     FILTER (lang(?label) = 'en')
    }
    """

    nquery = query.replace('VALUE',nterm)

    sparql = SPARQLWrapper("http://dbpedia.org/sparql")
    sparql.setQuery(nquery)
    rterms = []
    sparql.setReturnFormat(JSON)
    try:
        ret = sparql.query()
        results = ret.convert()
        requestGood = True
    except Exception, e:
        results = str(e)
        requestGood = False
        
    if requestGood == False:
        return "Problem communicating with the server: ", results
    elif (len(results["results"]["bindings"]) == 0):
        return "No results found"
    else:
        for result in results["results"]["bindings"]:
            label = result["label"]["value"]
            rterms.append(label)
    alts = ', '.join(rterms)
    alts = alts.encode('utf-8')
    return alts

if __name__ == "__main__":
    alts = dbpedia(sys.argv[1])
    print alts

To test, invoke on command line:

python dbpedia_redirects.py "Bill Clinton"

This should return something like:

Bill Clinton, William Jefferson Blythe IV, William Jefferson Blythe III, 42nd Pr esident of the United States, Bil Clinton, BillClinton, Bill Blythe IV, Bill Cli nton, Bill Clinton's Post-Presidency, Bill Clinton's Post Presidency, Bill J. C linton, Bill Jefferson Clinton, Bill Klinton, Bill clinton, Billl Clinton, Billl l Clinton, Billy Clinton, Bubba Clinton, Buddy (Clinton's dog), Bull Clinton, Cl inton, Bill, Clinton Gore Administration, Clintonesque, Klin-ton, MTV President, MTV president, President Bill Clinton, President Clinton, The MTV President, US President Bill Clinton, Virginia Cassidy Blythe, Virginia Clinton, Virginia Cli nton Kelly, Virginia Kelly, Willam Jefferson Blythe III, WilliamJeffersonClinton , William "Bill" Clinton, William Blythe III, William Clinton, William J. Blythe , William J. Blythe III, William J. Clinton, William J Clinton, William Jefferso n "Bill" Clinton, William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton, William Jefferson Clinton, W illiam clinton, Willy Clinton, Bill Clinton's sex scandals, @BillClinton