Plurals and compounds

This is the history button.

Clicking it allows you to see up to the last four objects you created with the notepad. How it records what you enter is a clue into how the word parsing works in Scribblenauts.

1. A single word, if spelled correctly, will usually generate a word -- BEAN makes a small green-colored bean appear, and BEAN is recorded in the history.
2. Pluralizing a single word by adding an S or ES will usually revert the word to its singular spelling -- BEANS changes to BEAN in the history.
3. Oddly enough, BEANES will also change to BEAN, despite it being spelled wrong. This is because the parser is attempting to remove both S and ES from plurals to identify the word.
4. A word that naturally ends in S will be recognized as singular -- WALRUS makes a walrus, and WALRUS is recorded in the history.
5. Both WALRUSS and WALRUSES are changed to WALRUS in the history.
6. JAMES will change into JAM
7. This even works for words ending in multiple Ss -- GRASS , GRASSS and GRASSES all make a patch of grass and are recorded as GRASS.
8. A similar effect happens for words ending in ES -- MOLASSES , MOLASSESS and MOLASSESES all create a pot of molasses and are recorded as MOLASSES.
9. In a strange twist, words ending in E react differently -- HORSE creates a horse, but HORSES is NOT FOUND. In the suggestions, HORSE is not even in the list. This same effect goes for the words SPONGE (SPONGES), CHEESE (CHEESES) and MOUSE (MOUSES). This is probably due to the fact that the game attempts to remove ES, as it recognises that as the indication of a plural.
10. Even stranger, the spelling HORSEES does make a horse, and is recorded as HORSE. This same effect goes for the words SPONGE (SPONGEES), CHEESE (CHEESEES), PANCAKE(PANCAKEES) and MOUSE (MOUSEES), and probably many more. Since HORSEES without the ES is HORSE, the game recognises it as a word, and creates a horse.
11. With current evidence, it can be presumed that the game attempts to remove ES as a recognised indication of a plural whenever possible.
12. On the other hand, some words will add an S or ES to a word to complete it. The effect works a little differently for different words:

• WALRU is recorded as WALRUS, Same for PANT (PANTS ) and SHO (SHOES )
• GLAS (GLASS ), GRAS (GRASS) and CHES (CHESS) however, are NOT FOUND.

It would appear that if the entered word already ends in S or ES, it doesn't try to add any letters.

• MOLASSE is recorded as MOLASSES. MOLASS is NOT FOUND.
• Both SHACKLE and SHACKL are recorded as SHACKLES .

This may be because SHACKLE is a real word (a verb), while MOLASSE means nothing.

1. Adding a S or ES creates other conflicts when the two spellings generate different words:

• GLASS and GLASSS are both recorded as GLASS in the history and either generate a sheet of raw glass or a drinking cup.
• GLASSE, GLASSES, GLASSESS and GLASSESES are all saved as GLASSES - eye glasses.

1. To review:

• CH, CHES, CHEE and CHEESES are NOT FOUND.
• CHEESE makes cheese. CHEESEES is shortened to CHEESE.
• CHE is a type of berry.
• CHEES is not extended to CHEESES, but is instead shortened to CHE.

1. MAN , MANS and MANES create an adult male and are recorded as MAN, while MANE and MANEES create the hair around a lion's head, and are recorded as MANE.
2. MEN, WOMEN and MOUSES are not found, but MICE creates a rodent mouse and is recorded as MICE. MOUSEES changes back to MOUSE and lets you choose between the animal or the computer input device.

MULTI-WORD PHRASES

1. When entered as a single word, some objects are recorded as compound phrases. GREENBEAN and PORKCHOP are saved in the history as GREEN BEAN and PORK CHOP, respectively.
2. In the same vein, plurals are converted back to singulars. GREENBEANS and PORKCHOPS become GREEN BEAN and PORK CHOP this also happens with GREENBEANES and PORKCHOPES.
3. Entering a phrase successfully depends on whether the entire phrase is recognized:

• BEAN becomes BEAN
• PEA becomes PEA
• POD becomes POD
• PEA POD becomes POD
• PEAPOD and PEAPODS are NOT FOUND
• FROZEN BEAN becomes BEAN
• FROZEN PEA becomes PEA
• FROZEN POD becomes POD
• FROZENBEAN, FROZENPEA and FROZENPOD are NOT FOUND
• GREEN BEAN becomes GREEN BEAN
• GREEN POD becomes POD
• GREEN PEA becomes PEA
• GREENBEAN becomes GREEN BEAN
• GREENPEA and GREENPOD are NOT FOUND
• FROZEN PEA POD becomes POD
• FROZEN GREEN PEA becomes PEA
• FROZEN GREEN BEAN becomes GREEN BEAN
• FROZEN PEAPOD and FROZEN PEAPODS are NOT FOUND
• FROZENGREENBEAN and FROZENGREENBEANS are NOT FOUND
• FROZENPEAPOD and FROZENPEAPODS are NOT FOUND
• FROZEN GREENPEA and FROZEN GREENPEAS are NOT FOUND

1. More complex phrases tend to trim off words until it finds a phrase it recognizes. Entering "Green Peas" may give you an object, but looking in the history shows you the game only recorded "pea". Enter "Pea Pod" and the history shows "pod", which indicates that even if it knew the first word alone, it didn't recognize them in a phrase. Enter "Tub" and you get a bathtub . Enter "Hot Tub " and you get a different object - a hot tub. Enter "Alien Hot Tub" and you get a regular Hot Tub, while the history only stores "hot tub". So Scribblenauts seems to trim off words one by one from left to right until it finds a phrase it recognizes. Enter "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" and you get a regular Turtle. Any number of adjectives will be cut off until the first recognized phrase of any size is found.

HYPHENS

• GREEN-BEAN -> GREEN-BEAN
• GREEN-PEA -> PEA

PLURAL MULTI-WORD PHRASES

1. Plural words that are part of a compound phrase (green beans) react differently...

• green beans -> green beans
• green beanes -> green beanes
• frozen beans -> beans
• frozen green beans -> green beans
• FROZEN GREENBEAN becomes GREENBEAN
• FROZEN GREENBEANS -> GREENBEANS
• green peas -> peas
• frozen peas -> peas
• frozen green peas -> peas
• pea pods -> pods
• frozen pods -> pods
• frozen pea pods -> pods

WEIRD ENDINGS

• soup -> soup
• pea soup -> pea soup
• peasoup -> pea soup
• peasoups -> pea soup

• warm peasoup -> peasoup
• warm peasoups -> peasoups
• warm pancake
• warm pancakes
• warm pancakees
• fat walrus -> walrus
• fat walruss -> walruss
• fat walruses -> walruses

SPLITTING

• be an -> be an
• green be an -> green be an
• frozen be an -> be an
• frozenbe an -> NOT FOUND
• pan cake -> pan cake
• panc ake -> panc ake
• greenbe an -> greenbe an
• frozen green be an -> green be an
• frozen greenbe an -> greenbe an

SPLIT PLURALS

• be ans -> be ans
• pan cakes -> NOT FOUND
• panc akes -> NOT FOUND
• be anes -> be anes
• pan cakees -> pan cakees
• panc akees -> panc akees
• frozen be ans -> be ans
• frozenbe ans -> NOT FOUND
• green be ans -> green be ans
• greenbe ans -> greenbe ans
• frozen green be ans -> green be ans
• frozen greenbe ans -> greenbe ans

SUMMARY

There seem to be a number of steps in the word parsing process, and what is stored in the reloader isn't always consistent.

So it seems internally, it takes a phrase like "Green Porkchops", cuts off words until it finds something it recognizes (Porkchops), the records the phrase in the reloader. Then it converts "Porkchops" into "Porkchop" and then into "Pork Chop" (otherwise it would have converted "Porkchops" into "Pork Chops" which STAYS "Pork Chops")

All of this basically comes down to two things:

1. A better understanding of the word parsing structure (only interesting to programmer types)

2. A way to determine how better to construct the wiki: how should converted compounds and plurals be dealt with if the game sees some of them as the same word, or two different words (even if all the object properties are identical)

From research so far, it seems like plurals should not be recorded in the wiki, unless the game specifically spells them differently (such as MICE).