README

silly little script to test that a haiku matches the syllable pattern. Call test with your haiku, split() on new lines.

paiku.py

import nltk
from nltk.corpus import cmudict
d = cmudict.dict()

def nsyl(word):
  return [len(list(y for y in x if y[-1].isdigit())) for x in d[word.lower()]]

def test(haiku):
  for line in haiku:
    length = 0
    expected = 5 + 2 * (haiku.index(line) % 2)
    for word in line.split():
      length += nsyl(word)[0]
    if length == expected:
      print "'%s' is a good haiku line" % line
    else:
      print "'%s' is a bad haiku line (%s syllables not %s)" % (line, length, expected)