code: def _pnums_with_leading_space(self, phonetic):
          
          alt_start = phonetic.find('(')
          if alt_start == -1:
              return ' ' + self._phonetic_number(phonetic)
  
          prefix = phonetic[:alt_start]
          alt_start += 1  # get past the (
          alt_end = phonetic.find(')', alt_start)
          alt_string = phonetic[alt_start:alt_end]
          alt_end += 1  # get past the )
          suffix = phonetic[alt_end:]
          alt_array = alt_string.split('|')
          result = ''
          for alt in alt_array:
              result += self._pnums_with_leading_space(prefix + alt + suffix)
  
          return result
docs: Join prefixes & suffixes in cases of alternate phonetic values.
  
          Parameters
          ----------
          phonetic : str
              A Beider-Morse phonetic encoding
  
          Returns
          -------
          str
              A Beider-Morse phonetic code