Word Suffixes

[gumby]

Here is a complete list of word suffixes, with examples (located in the vocab.901) from the template game.  My understanding is that these are used by the parser if the inputted word cannot be matched in the vocab.000.  Then it attempts to find a match here, and if it does the parser will use the suffixed word class while parsing.  This also explains why there are minimal/no pluralized words in the vocab - you should be able to use the root word & the parse will still work properly.

Note that you cannot use suffixed words in developing Said() strings (however, it may minimize the number of strings you need to write), it just helps out with the user input.

Code:

  (if(Said('take/knife'))       // This will respond to both 'take knife' & 'take knives'!
       Print("taken")
   )
   (if(Said('take/knives'))      // Will NOT compile, knives is not in the vocab!
       Print("taken")
   )

The asterisks in the table corresponds to the word stem (you can think of it as a wildcard of sorts).

Suffixed ending	Suffixed word class	Original ending	Original word class	Example
*s	noun	*	noun	Dogs – dog
*es	noun	*	noun	Bottles – bottle
*ies	noun	*y	noun	Bodies – body
*men	noun	*man	noun	Firemen – fireman
*ves	noun	*fe	noun	Knives – knife
*ves	noun	*f	noun	Thieves – thief
*people	noun	*person	noun
*ing	imperative verb/noun/adj	*	imperative verb	Knocking – knock
*ing	article	*	article
*ing	imperative verb/noun/adj	*e	imperative verb	Waking – wake
*ing	article	*e	article
*nning	imperative verb/noun/adj	*n	imperative verb	Beginning – begin
*pping	imperative verb/noun/adj	*p	imperative verb	Tripping – trip
*mming	imperative verb/noun/adj	*m	imperative verb	Programming – program
*tting	imperative verb/noun/adj	*t	imperative verb	Getting – get
*rring	imperative verb/noun/adj	*r	imperative verb	Whirring – whir
*gging	imperative verb/noun/adj	*g	imperative verb	Bugging – bug
*ed	noun/adj	*	imperative verb	Killed – kill
*ed	noun/adj	*e	imperative verb	Praised – praise
*nned	noun/adj	*n	imperative verb	Scanned – scan
*pped	noun/adj	*p	imperative verb	Whipped – whip
*mmed	noun/adj	*m	imperative verb	Hemmed – hem
*tted	noun/adj	*t	imperative verb	Inputted – input
*rred	noun/adj	*r	imperative verb
*gged	noun/adj	*g	imperative verb	Hugged – hug
*ied	noun/adj	*y	imperative verb	Empied – empty
*er	noun/adj	*	imperative verb/adj	Adjuster – adjust
*er	noun/adj	*e	imperative verb/adj	Tickler – tickle
*nner	noun/adj	*n	imperative verb/adj	Thinner - thin
*pper	noun/adj	*p	imperative verb/adj	Clapper – clap
*mmer	noun/adj	*m	imperative verb/adj	Slimmer – slim
*tter	noun/adj	*t	imperative verb/adj	Shutter – shut
*rrer	noun/adj	*r	imperative verb/adj
*gger	noun/adj	*g	imperative verb/adj	Flagger – flag
*ier	noun/adj	*y	imperative verb/adj	Angrier – angry
*est	adjective	*	adjective	Sharpest – sharp
*est	adjective	*e	adjective
*nnest	adjective	*n	adjective	Thinnest – thin
*ppest	adjective	*p	adjective
*mmest	adjective	*m	adjective	Trimmest - trim
*ttest	adjective	*t	adjective	Hottest – hot
*rrest	adjective	*r	adjective
*ggest	adjective	*g	adjective	Biggest – big
*iest	adjective	*y	adjective	Shiniest – shiny
*ly	adjective	*	adjective
*y	adjective	*	noun	Watery – water
*ish	adjective	*	adjective	Yellowish – yellow

[MusicallyInspired]

Fascinating!

[Collector]

How about possessives, i.e. "troll's knife"

[gumby]

How about possessives, i.e. "troll's knife"

Yep, sure does:

Code:

  (if(Said('take/sword<troll'))       // Responds to: 'take troll sword' & 'take troll's sword'
       Print("taken")
   )

I'm assuming the parser is discarding/ignoring the apostrophe & utilizing the first rule in the suffix table (change *s to *), and the result is as if 'take troll sword' was inputted.

Additionally, it will respond to 'take trolls sword', 'take trolles sword', and 'take trolly sword'.  Furthermore, if we make the word troll also an adjective, then 'take trollish sword' & 'take trollest sword' work as well.

[Collector]

I can see a need to be able to distinguish between the possessive "troll's" and the plural "trolls".

[gumby]

I can see a need to be able to distinguish between the possessive "troll's" and the plural "trolls".

You cannot put apostrophes in a vocab word, either.  The only solution to this (that I can see) would be to pre-process the input & convert the word "troll's" to some other vocab word like "trollpossessive" and add that word in the vocab.

However, I'm having a hard time coming up with a scenario that would be an issue for the parser/game-developer.  What user input (or scenario) did you have in mind?  It could be that the issue can be resolved using some other technique.

[Cloudee1]

Man Gumby, your are totally kicking ass with this parser stuff. 

[Collector]

If the apostrophe is simply ignored could a game distinguish "kill troll's dog" from "kill trolls dog". Would the game be able to assume possessive by the inclusion of "dog" or would it ignore the trailing dog? If the dog were of no consequence to the game, it probably would not be in the vocab, but if it is...? However, the "trollpossessive" trick might be enough for most situations, if needed.

[gumby]

Man Gumby, your are totally kicking ass with this parser stuff.  

I'm not going to give up until it's well understood by everyone & documented...

If the apostrophe is simply ignored could a game distinguish "kill troll's dog" from "kill trolls dog". Would the game be able to assume possessive by the inclusion of "dog" or would it ignore the trailing dog? If the dog were of no consequence to the game, it probably would not be in the vocab, but if it is...? However, the "trollpossessive" trick might be enough for most situations, if needed.

Either input would result in the same action (killing the troll's dog).  When you chain nouns together like that, the 'extra' nouns behave like adjectives (in this case 'troll'), and the dog would be the subject.  Here is what the code would look like:

Code:

 (if(Said('kill/dog<troll')         // Will match 'kill trolls dog', 'kill troll's dog'
      Print("The dog is dead")
  )

  // could also do this...
  (if(Said('kill/dog[<troll]')       // Will match same inputs as above & simply 'kill dog'
      Print("The dog is dead")
  )

EDIT:  Oh, and the parser won't ignore an included word (except articles - they can affect the parse, but are not necessarily represented in the said string).  Every word must be represented in the said string or it will not match the user input - at least, as far as can tell.