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Modular Context-Free Grammars

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Grammars

Abstract

Given two context-free grammars (CFGs), G 1 and G 2, the language generated by the union of the grammars is not the union of the languages generated by each grammar: L(G 1G 2)≠ L(G 1∪ L(G 2). In order to account for modularity of grammars, another way of defining the meaning of grammars is needed. This paper adapts results from the semantics of logic programming languages to CFGs. We discuss alternative approaches for defining the denotation of a grammar, culminating in one which we show to be both compositional and fully-abstract. We then show how grammar modules can be defined such that their semantics retains these desirable properties. This gives a clear, mathematically sound way for composing parts of grammars.

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Wintner, S. Modular Context-Free Grammars. Grammars 5, 41–63 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014216630973

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