Python script to generate string of phonemes.

phonemes.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

#
# Generate a string of phonemes.
#
# Based on the pwgen utility, however this is not
# suitable for creating passwords.
#
# pwgen: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pwgen/
#
# Like the pwgen utility this is based on, this file is
# licensed under the GPL.
#

from __future__ import print_function
from __future__ import unicode_literals

import random

class _Phoneme(object):
    phoneme = None
    dipthong = False
    not_first = False

    def __init__(self, phoneme, dipthong=False, not_first=False):
        self.phoneme = phoneme
        self.dipthong = dipthong
        self.not_first = not_first

class _Consonant(_Phoneme):
    pass

class _Vowel(_Phoneme):
    pass

_phonemes = [
    _Vowel('a'),
    _Vowel('ae', dipthong=True),
    _Vowel('ah', dipthong=True),
    _Vowel('ai', dipthong=True),
    _Consonant('b'),
    _Consonant('c'),
    _Consonant('ch', dipthong=True),
    _Consonant('d'),
    _Vowel('e'),
    _Vowel('ee', dipthong=True),
    _Vowel('ei', dipthong=True),
    _Consonant('f'),
    _Consonant('g'),
    _Consonant('gh', dipthong=True, not_first=True),
    _Consonant('h'),
    _Vowel('i'),
    _Vowel('ie', dipthong=True),
    _Consonant('j'),
    _Consonant('k'),
    _Consonant('l'),
    _Consonant('m'),
    _Consonant('n'),
    _Consonant('ng', dipthong=True, not_first=True),
    _Vowel('o'),
    _Vowel('oh', dipthong=True),
    _Vowel('oo', dipthong=True),
    _Consonant('p'),
    _Consonant('ph', dipthong=True),
    _Consonant('qu', dipthong=True),
    _Consonant('r'),
    _Consonant('s'),
    _Consonant('sh', dipthong=True),
    _Consonant('t'),
    _Consonant('th', dipthong=True),
    _Vowel('u'),
    _Consonant('v'),
    _Consonant('w'),
    _Consonant('x'),
    _Consonant('y'),
    _Consonant('z'),
]

def _phoneme_generator():
    rs = random.SystemRandom()
    prev_type = _Consonant
    next_type = None
    first = True

    while True:
        if first:
            candidates = [ e for e in _phonemes if not e.not_first ]
            first = False
        else:
            candidates = [ e for e in _phonemes if isinstance(e, next_type) ]

        phoneme = rs.choice(candidates)
        yield phoneme

        if isinstance(phoneme, _Consonant):
            next_type = _Vowel
        else:
            if prev_type == _Vowel or phoneme.dipthong or rs.random() > 0.3:
                next_type = _Consonant
            else:
                next_type = _Vowel
        prev_type = phoneme


def generate_string(length):
    if length == 0:
        return ''

    ret = ''
    for p in _phoneme_generator():
        ret += p.phoneme
        if len(ret) == length:
            return ret
        elif len(ret) > length:
            ret = ''

if __name__ == '__main__':
    import os.path
    import sys
    if len(sys.argv) < 3:
        print('Usage: {prog} LENGTH COUNT'.format(prog=os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])), file=sys.stderr)
        sys.exit(1)
    if sys.argv[1] == '-':
        length = None
    else:
        length = int(sys.argv[1])
    count = int(sys.argv[2])
    for i in xrange(0, count):
        if length is not None:
            c_length = length
        else:
            c_length = int(random.normalvariate(7, 2))
            if c_length < 1:
                c_length = 1
        print(generate_string(c_length))