What does formal grammar mean?

Definitions for formal grammar
for·mal gram·mar

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word formal grammar.

Wiktionary

  1. formal grammarnoun

    A precise mathematical description of a formal language, consisting of terminal symbols, nonterminal symbols, a nonterminal symbol serving as start symbol, and a set of production rules that control the expansion of nonterminal symbols into strings consisting of both terminal and nonterminal symbols.

Wikipedia

  1. Formal grammar

    In formal language theory, a grammar (when the context is not given, often called a formal grammar for clarity) describes how to form strings from a language's alphabet that are valid according to the language's syntax. A grammar does not describe the meaning of the strings or what can be done with them in whatever context—only their form. A formal grammar is defined as a set of production rules for such strings in a formal language. Formal language theory, the discipline that studies formal grammars and languages, is a branch of applied mathematics. Its applications are found in theoretical computer science, theoretical linguistics, formal semantics, mathematical logic, and other areas. A formal grammar is a set of rules for rewriting strings, along with a "start symbol" from which rewriting starts. Therefore, a grammar is usually thought of as a language generator. However, it can also sometimes be used as the basis for a "recognizer"—a function in computing that determines whether a given string belongs to the language or is grammatically incorrect. To describe such recognizers, formal language theory uses separate formalisms, known as automata theory. One of the interesting results of automata theory is that it is not possible to design a recognizer for certain formal languages.Parsing is the process of recognizing an utterance (a string in natural languages) by breaking it down to a set of symbols and analyzing each one against the grammar of the language. Most languages have the meanings of their utterances structured according to their syntax—a practice known as compositional semantics. As a result, the first step to describing the meaning of an utterance in language is to break it down part by part and look at its analyzed form (known as its parse tree in computer science, and as its deep structure in generative grammar).

Wikidata

  1. Formal grammar

    In formal language theory, a grammar is a set of production rules for strings in a formal language. The rules describe how to form strings from the language's alphabet that are valid according to the language's syntax. A grammar does not describe the meaning of the strings or what can be done with them in whatever context—only their form. Formal language theory, the discipline which studies formal grammars and languages, is a branch of applied mathematics. Its applications are found in theoretical computer science, theoretical linguistics, formal semantics, mathematical logic, and other areas. A formal grammar is a set of rules for rewriting strings, along with a "start symbol" from which rewriting starts. Therefore, a grammar is usually thought of as a language generator. However, it can also sometimes be used as the basis for a "recognizer"—a function in computing that determines whether a given string belongs to the language or is grammatically incorrect. To describe such recognizers, formal language theory uses separate formalisms, known as automata theory. One of the interesting results of automata theory is that it is not possible to design a recognizer for certain formal languages.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of formal grammar in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of formal grammar in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1


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"formal grammar." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 23 Jan. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/formal+grammar>.

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