23. The method as in claim 22 , wherein creating sets of words includes producing the sets of words to include at least a first set of words and a second set of words, the first set of words including a first word and a second word retrieved from the utterance, the second set of words including a third word and a fourth word retrieved from the utterance; and wherein mapping each set includes: mapping the first set of words to a first candidate intent value and mapping the second set of words to a second candidate intent value.
24. The method as in claim 23 further comprising: accessing the statistical information to identify a first numerical value, the first numerical value assigned to the first candidate intent value, the first numerical value indicating a degree to which the first set of words was detected as being present in the previously received utterances; accessing the statistical information to identify a second numerical value, the second numerical value assigned to the second candidate intent value, the second numerical value indicating a degree to which the second set of words was detected as being present in the previously received utterances; and ranking the list of candidate intent values for the utterance in accordance with the first numerical value and the second numerical value.