diff --git a/datasets/TTSDataset.py b/datasets/TTSDataset.py
index cccd65a2..d649bf23 100644
--- a/datasets/TTSDataset.py
+++ b/datasets/TTSDataset.py
@@ -77,13 +77,12 @@ class MyDataset(Dataset):
 
     def _generate_and_cache_phoneme_sequence(self, text, cache_path):
         """generate a phoneme sequence from text.
-
         since the usage is for subsequent caching, we never add bos and
         eos chars here. Instead we add those dynamically later; based on the
         config option."""
         phonemes = phoneme_to_sequence(text, [self.cleaners],
                                        language=self.phoneme_language,
-                                       enable_eos_bos=False, 
+                                       enable_eos_bos=False,
                                        tp=self.tp)
         phonemes = np.asarray(phonemes, dtype=np.int32)
         np.save(cache_path, phonemes)
diff --git a/train.py b/train.py
index 96c268f0..616d54ac 100644
--- a/train.py
+++ b/train.py
@@ -519,9 +519,8 @@ def main(args):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
     global meta_data_train, meta_data_eval, symbols, phonemes
     # Audio processor
     ap = AudioProcessor(**c.audio)
-    
     if 'text' in c.keys():
-        symbols, phonemes =  make_symbols(**c.text)
+        symbols, phonemes = make_symbols(**c.text)
 
     # DISTRUBUTED
     if num_gpus > 1:
diff --git a/utils/generic_utils.py b/utils/generic_utils.py
index 6aecdc7d..7c2f033a 100644
--- a/utils/generic_utils.py
+++ b/utils/generic_utils.py
@@ -426,13 +426,13 @@ def check_config(c):
     _check_argument('griffin_lim_iters', c['audio'], restricted=True, val_type=int, min_val=10, max_val=1000)
 
     # vocabulary parameters
-    _check_argument('text', c, restricted=False, val_type=dict) # parameter not mandatory 
-    _check_argument('pad', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted=True if 'text' in c.keys() else False, val_type=str) # mandatory if "text parameters" else no mandatory
-    _check_argument('eos', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted=True if 'text' in c.keys() else False, val_type=str)
-    _check_argument('bos', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted=True if 'text' in c.keys() else False, val_type=str)
-    _check_argument('characters', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted=True if 'text' in c.keys() else False, val_type=str)
-    _check_argument('phonemes', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted=True if 'text' in c.keys() else False, val_type=str)
-    _check_argument('punctuations', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted=True if 'text' in c.keys() else False, val_type=str)
+    _check_argument('text', c, restricted=False, val_type=dict)
+    _check_argument('pad', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted='text' in c.keys(), val_type=str)
+    _check_argument('eos', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted='text' in c.keys(), val_type=str)
+    _check_argument('bos', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted='text' in c.keys(), val_type=str)
+    _check_argument('characters', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted='text' in c.keys(), val_type=str)
+    _check_argument('phonemes', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted='text' in c.keys(), val_type=str)
+    _check_argument('punctuations', c['text'] if 'text' in c.keys() else {}, restricted='text' in c.keys(), val_type=str)
 
     # normalization parameters
     _check_argument('signal_norm', c['audio'], restricted=True, val_type=bool)
diff --git a/utils/text/__init__.py b/utils/text/__init__.py
index fcb239b2..ff21ffe0 100644
--- a/utils/text/__init__.py
+++ b/utils/text/__init__.py
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ def pad_with_eos_bos(phoneme_sequence, tp=None):
     if tp:
         _bos = tp['bos']
         _eos = tp['eos']
-        _, phonemes = make_symbols(**tp)
-        _PHONEMES_TO_ID = {s: i for i, s in enumerate(phonemes)}
+        _, _phonemes = make_symbols(**tp)
+        _PHONEMES_TO_ID = {s: i for i, s in enumerate(_phonemes)}
         
     return [_PHONEMES_TO_ID[_bos]] + list(phoneme_sequence) + [_PHONEMES_TO_ID[_eos]]
 
@@ -70,8 +70,8 @@ def pad_with_eos_bos(phoneme_sequence, tp=None):
 def phoneme_to_sequence(text, cleaner_names, language, enable_eos_bos=False, tp=None):
     global _PHONEMES_TO_ID
     if tp:
-        _, phonemes = make_symbols(**tp)
-        _PHONEMES_TO_ID = {s: i for i, s in enumerate(phonemes)}
+        _, _phonemes = make_symbols(**tp)
+        _PHONEMES_TO_ID = {s: i for i, s in enumerate(_phonemes)}
 
     sequence = []
     text = text.replace(":", "")
@@ -93,8 +93,8 @@ def sequence_to_phoneme(sequence, tp=None):
     global _ID_TO_PHONEMES
     result = ''
     if tp:
-        _, phonemes =  make_symbols(**tp)
-        _ID_TO_PHONEMES = {i: s for i, s in enumerate(phonemes)}
+        _, _phonemes = make_symbols(**tp)
+        _ID_TO_PHONEMES = {i: s for i, s in enumerate(_phonemes)}
         
     for symbol_id in sequence:
         if symbol_id in _ID_TO_PHONEMES:
@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ def text_to_sequence(text, cleaner_names, tp=None):
     '''
     global _SYMBOL_TO_ID
     if tp:
-        symbols, _ = make_symbols(**tp)
-        _SYMBOL_TO_ID = {s: i for i, s in enumerate(symbols)}
+        _symbols, _ = make_symbols(**tp)
+        _SYMBOL_TO_ID = {s: i for i, s in enumerate(_symbols)}
 
     sequence = []
     # Check for curly braces and treat their contents as ARPAbet:
@@ -139,8 +139,8 @@ def sequence_to_text(sequence, tp=None):
     '''Converts a sequence of IDs back to a string'''
     global _ID_TO_SYMBOL
     if tp:
-        symbols, _ = make_symbols(**tp)
-        _ID_TO_SYMBOL = {i: s for i, s in enumerate(symbols)}
+        _symbols, _ = make_symbols(**tp)
+        _ID_TO_SYMBOL = {i: s for i, s in enumerate(_symbols)}
 
     result = ''
     for symbol_id in sequence:
diff --git a/utils/text/symbols.py b/utils/text/symbols.py
index e4a4b103..db83cb29 100644
--- a/utils/text/symbols.py
+++ b/utils/text/symbols.py
@@ -5,16 +5,16 @@ Defines the set of symbols used in text input to the model.
 The default is a set of ASCII characters that works well for English or text that has been run
 through Unidecode. For other data, you can modify _characters. See TRAINING_DATA.md for details.
 '''
-def make_symbols(characters, phonemes, punctuations='!\'(),-.:;? ', pad='_', eos='~', bos='^'):
+def make_symbols(characters, phnms, punctuations='!\'(),-.:;? ', pad='_', eos='~', bos='^'):
     ''' Function to create symbols and phonemes '''
-    _phonemes = sorted(list(phonemes))
+    _phonemes_sorted = sorted(list(phnms))
 
     # Prepend "@" to ARPAbet symbols to ensure uniqueness (some are the same as uppercase letters):
-    _arpabet = ['@' + s for s in _phonemes]
+    _arpabet = ['@' + s for s in _phonemes_sorted]
 
     # Export all symbols:
-    symbols = [pad, eos, bos] + list(characters) + _arpabet
-    phonemes = [pad, eos, bos] + list(_phonemes) + list(punctuations)
+    _symbols = [pad, eos, bos] + list(characters) + _arpabet
+    _phonemes = [pad, eos, bos] + list(_phonemes_sorted) + list(punctuations)
 
     return symbols, phonemes