neng, Non-Extravagant Name Generator

Introduction

neng is a Golang package that can generate random English phrases from nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives according to user-specified pattern. It is powered by diverse collection of 43000 words compiled from WordNet Lexical Database. Inspired by Terraria's world name generator, neng is designed to be simple yet versatile name making tool for other projects.

If the embedded word database does not meet your requirements, you can provide neng with your own word lists.

Sample use

Code

package main

import (
    "fmt"

    "github.com/Zedran/neng"
)

func main() {
    gen, _ := neng.DefaultGenerator()

    // <title case + noun> <Simple Present + verb> a <upper case + adjective> <upper case + noun>
    phrase, _ := gen.Phrase("%tn %Nv a %ua %un")

    // A single, transformed verb
    verb, _ := gen.Verb(neng.MOD_PAST_SIMPLE)

    // Transforming an arbitrary word
    word, _ := gen.Transform("STASH", neng.MOD_GERUND, neng.MOD_CASE_LOWER)

    fmt.Printf("Phrase -> %s\nVerb   -> %s\nWord   -> %s\n", phrase, verb, word)
}

Output

Phrase -> share
Verb   -> Serenade perplexes a STRAY SUPERBUG
Word   -> stashing

Phrase pattern commands

Escape character: %

Insertion

Symbol	Description
%	Inserts % sign
a	Inserts a random adjective
m	Inserts a random adverb
n	Inserts a random noun
v	Inserts a random verb

Transformation

Currently, no compatibility checks have been implemented. It is legal to transform any word with any modifier, it is also possible to assign more than one modifier of the same type to a word. Improper use of modifiers will therefore result in deformations.

Symbol	Compatible with	Package constant	Description
2	verb	MOD_PAST_SIMPLE	Past Simple (2nd form)
3	verb	MOD_PAST_PARTICIPLE	Past Participle (3rd form)
N	verb	MOD_PRESENT_SIMPLE	Present Simple (now)
g	verb	MOD_GERUND	Gerund
l	any	MOD_CASE_LOWER	lower case
p	noun, verb	MOD_PLURAL	Plural form
t	any	MOD_CASE_TITLE	Title Case
u	any	MOD_CASE_UPPER	UPPER CASE

Symbols are used to specify transformation parameters for words within a phrase. Package constants are designed to work with "single-word" methods.

State of the vocabulary

Generator's default vocabulary consists of:

• 25000 nouns
• 10000 adjectives
• 6000 verbs
• 2000 adverbs

Original WordNet lists have been thoroughly vetted. I have strived to remove any words that are offensive, too specific (chemistry, medicine) or relate to topics that are considered sensitive, controversial or fear-inducing. However, I am not native English speaker and the database is quite large, so it is likely I have missed something. If you find any unsuitable words, I will be happy to hear from you.

Attributions

Refer to NOTICE.md.

License

This software is available under MIT License.