Prepositions and Parsing...

[S001GMU at nova.wright.edu]

[many arguments on how to clarify a prepositional statement]

A thought I had... 

parse each statement into a default interpretation.  if the players wish to
override that, they can use parentheses.  For example:

>put the book on the rug behind the pillar.

Default parsing:

put (the book) on (the rug behind the pillar).

the player could, however, explicitly override that with:

>put (the book on the rug) behind (the pillar)

or whatever.

It may be possible to leave off one set of parentheses.  's about the only way
I can think of to allow the players to input clear statements, short of
requiring proper english form.

It would require your parser to handle all the nasty errors that can happen
with mismatched and ill-placed parentheses tho...

Of course, you could also have the parser figgure out all possible
combinations of parentheses and have one of those nasty, nested prompts ask
them which one they meant.  :)

-Greg