This month I turned back to the Text Parser and began what I'm sure will be a long process: tackling sentence structure ambiguity. I was specifically focusing on ambiguity in the function of prepositional phrases. Consider these two sentences:
I gave the letter to John.
I gave Sarah the letter to John.
The prepositional phrase is "to John." The exact same phrase can modify either the verb, as in the first sentence (to whom did I give?) or the noun immediately preceding it, as in the second sentence (which letter?). In this example, the distinguishing factor is nothing in the phrase itself, but the presence or absence of an indirect object. In the second sentence, the indirect object takes over the role of indicating "to whom?", so by process of elimination, the phrase must indicate "which letter."
There are further examples in which the plain structure of the sentence gives no sign of a prepositional phrase's function. For instance, there multiple modes in which "with" can be used:
I hit the nails with the hammer. (Use of a tool; phrase acts as adverb attached to "hit")
I found the nails with the hammer. (Proximity; phrase acts as adverb attached to "found")
I hit the nails with my friends. (Joint action; phrase acts as adverb attached to "hit")
I hit the nails with the bent shanks. (Identification via property; phrase acts as adjective attached to "nails")
How do you, the reader, tell the difference? In this case, it's the meaning of the words that clues you in. And the meaning lies in known properties of those concepts, and the relationships between them. This is where the integrated nature of Acuitas' Parser really shines. I can have it query the semantic memory for hints that help resolve the ambiguity, such as:
Are hammers/friends/shanks typically used for hitting?
Can hammers/friends/shanks also hit things?
Are hammers/friends/shanks something that nails typically have?
More on the blog:
https://writerofminds.blogspot.com/2024/08/acuitas-diary-75-august-2024.html