my @table = ('a b c d e', 'f g h i j', 'k l m n o', 'p q r s t', 'u v w x y'); my @table2 = map { [(split / /, $_)[1, 4]] } @table; #### 0 ARRAY(0x803cc6d8) 0 ARRAY(0x8042f630) 0 'b' 1 'e' 1 ARRAY(0x8042f828) 0 'g' 1 'j' 2 ARRAY(0x8042f840) 0 'l' 1 'o' 3 ARRAY(0x8042f540) 0 'q' 1 't' 4 ARRAY(0x8042f870) 0 'v' 1 'y' #### my @table2 = map { join " ", (split / /, $_)[1, 4] } @table; #### 0 'b e' 1 'g j' 2 'l o' 3 'q t' 4 'v y'