diff --git a/pysle/isletool.py b/pysle/isletool.py
index 9d2c271..0959aac 100644
--- a/pysle/isletool.py
+++ b/pysle/isletool.py
@@ -5,41 +5,40 @@ Created on Oct 11, 2012
 '''
 
 
-vowelList = ['a', '@', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u', '^', '&', '>',]
+vowelList = ['a', '@', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u', '^', '&', '>', ]
 
 
 class WordNotInISLE(Exception):
     
     def __init__(self, word):
+        super(WordNotInISLE, self).__init__()
         self.word = word
         
     def __str__(self):
-        return "Word '%s' not in ISLE dictionary.  Please add it to continue." % self.word
+        return ("Word '%s' not in ISLE dictionary.  "
+                "Please add it to continue." % self.word)
 
 
 class LexicalTool():
     
-    
     def __init__(self, islePath):
         self.islePath = islePath
         self.data = self._buildDict()
     
-    
     def _buildDict(self):
         '''
         Builds the isle textfile into a dictionary for fast searching
         '''
-        dict = {}
+        lexDict = {}
         wordList = open(self.islePath, "r").read().split("\n")
         for row in wordList:
             word, pronunciation = row.split(" ", 1)
             word = word.split("(")[0]
             
-            dict.setdefault(word, [])
-            dict[word].append(pronunciation)
+            lexDict.setdefault(word, [])
+            lexDict[word].append(pronunciation)
         
-        return dict
-    
+        return lexDict
     
     def lookup(self, word):
         '''
@@ -52,10 +51,10 @@ class LexicalTool():
         
         pronList = self.data.get(word, None)
         
-        if pronList == None:
+        if pronList is None:
             raise WordNotInISLE(word)
         else:
-            pronList = [_parsePronunciation(pronunciationStr) 
+            pronList = [_parsePronunciation(pronunciationStr)
                         for pronunciationStr in pronList]
         
         return pronList
@@ -65,8 +64,8 @@ def _parsePronunciation(pronunciationStr):
     '''
     Parses the pronunciation string
     
-    Returns the list of syllables and a list of primary and 
-    secondary stress locations 
+    Returns the list of syllables and a list of primary and
+    secondary stress locations
     '''
     syllableTxt = pronunciationStr.split("#")[1].strip()
     syllableList = [x for x in syllableTxt.split(' . ')]
@@ -89,7 +88,7 @@ def _parsePronunciation(pronunciationStr):
 def getNumPhones(isleDict, label, maxFlag):
     '''
     
-    If maxFlag=True, use the longest pronunciation.  Otherwise, take the 
+    If maxFlag=True, use the longest pronunciation.  Otherwise, take the
     average length.
     '''
     phoneCount = 0
@@ -99,25 +98,28 @@ def getNumPhones(isleDict, label, maxFlag):
         phoneListOfLists = isleDict.lookup(word)
         
         syllableCountList = []
-        for syllableList, stressIndex in phoneListOfLists:
+        for row in phoneListOfLists:
+            syllableList = row[0]
             syllableCountList.append(len(syllableList))
         
         # In ISLE, there can be multiple pronunciations for each word
         # as we have no reason to believe one pronunciation is more
         # likely than another, we take the average of all of them
         phoneCountList = []
-        for syllableList, stressIndex in phoneListOfLists:
-            phoneCountList.append(len([phon for phoneList in syllableList for 
+        for row in phoneListOfLists:
+            syllableList = row[0]
+            phoneCountList.append(len([phon for phoneList in syllableList for
                                        phon in phoneList]))
         
         # The average number of phones for all possible pronunciations
         #    of this word
-        if maxFlag == True:
+        if maxFlag is True:
             syllableCount += max(syllableCountList)
             phoneCount += max(phoneCountList)
         else:
-            syllableCount += sum(syllableCountList) / float(len(syllableCountList))
-            phoneCount += sum(phoneCountList) / float(len(phoneCountList))    
+            syllableCount += (sum(syllableCountList) /
+                              float(len(syllableCountList)))
+            phoneCount += sum(phoneCountList) / float(len(phoneCountList))
     
     return syllableCount, phoneCount
 
@@ -137,6 +139,3 @@ def findOODWords(isleDict, wordList):
     oodList.sort()
     
     return oodList
-
-        
-        
\ No newline at end of file