algorithm_syllablecount.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# written by kennenth gonsalves

import codecs

def countsyll(instring):
    """This function counts the number of characters in a tamil string
        This is done by ignoring the vowel additions. If one uses the len
        function, the sample string has a length of 17 - but there are actually
        only 11 characters"""
    s = codecs.utf_8_encode(instring)
    print(s)
    x = codecs.utf_8_decode(s[0])[0]    
    print(repr(x))
    syllen = 0
    vowels = ['\u0bbe','\u0bbf','\u0bc0',
                '\u0bc1','\u0bc2','\u0bc6',
                '\u0bc7','\u0bc8','\u0bca',
                '\u0bcb','\u0bcc','\u0bcd',]
    for y in x:
        if y not in vowels:
            syllen += 1    
    return syllen

if __name__=='__main__':
    print(countsyll('ஆண்டவரின் துணைவன்'))