my %before = (U => 'I', D => 'O'); my %after; @after{ keys %before } = reverse values %before; sub subst { local ($_) = @_; 1 while s/(s+)(?=([DU]))/$before{$2} x length $1/e | s/(?<=([DU]))(s+)/$after{$1} x length $2/e; tr/DU/MM/ or tr/s/I/; return $_ }