DVA337 – LECTURE 7 Definition of grammars, linear

and regular grammars.

1
RECAP OF LECTURE 6
by set lifting of δ

subset construction

DFA NFA

state elimination

RE Thompson’s construction

(subset construction) nfa-to-dfa implied:

(state elimination) nfa-to-re dfa-to-re(x) = nfa-to-re(dfa)
(Thompson) re-to-nfa re-to-dfa(x) = nfa-to-dfa(re-to-nfa(x))
2
EXERCISE, STATE ELIMINATION
Construct a regular expression for the
following automaton
 Create unique isolated start and final states
 Successively eliminate states, introducing and
joining transition between predecessors and
successors
 until only the start and final states remain

3
TODAY
Grammars
 linear grammars (LG)
 right and left linear grammars (RLG and LLG)

Linear grammars
 right and left linear grammars define regular languages (RLG → NFA, LLG in other way)
 each regular language can be represented as a right linear grammar (DFA → RLG)

Regular grammar
 left linear or right linear
 defines regular languages

4
GRAMMARS examples and definitions

5
EXAMPLE, GRAMMAR
Grammars express languages, e.g., a
subset of the English language

sentence  noun _ phrase predicate

noun _ phrase  article noun
predicate  verb
article  a | the
noun  bird | dog
verb  sings | barks

6
EXERCISE, GRAMMAR
Derive ‘a dog barks’

sentence  noun _ phrase predicate

noun _ phrase  article noun
predicate  verb
article  a | the
noun  bird | dog
verb  sings | barks

7
THE LANGUAGE DEFINED BY A GRAMMAR
The language of a grammar is the set of L={ “a bird barks”,
strings that can be derived.
“a bird sings”,
sentence  noun _ phrase predicate “the bird barks”,
noun _ phrase  article noun “the bird sings”,
predicate  verb “a dog barks”,
article  a | the
“a dog sings”,
noun  bird | dog
“the dog barks”,
verb  sings | barks
“the dog sings” }

8
NOTATION
S  aSb
S 

9
EXERCISE
Derive ab using the grammar

S  aSb
S 

10
EXERCISE, LANGUAGE OF GRAMMAR
Which is the language of the grammar

S  aSb
S 

11
 S  aSb
FORMAL DEFINITION S 

A grammar, G, is a four tuple (V,T,S,P), where

V is a set of non-terminals
T is a set of terminals
S is the start non-terminal
P is a set of production rules

12
DERIVATIONS
Sentence – a string of terminals

Sentential form – a string of terminals and non-terminals

 a sentence is a special case of a sentential form

S  aSb  aaSbb  aaaSbbb  aaabbb

13
 S  aSb
SET DEFINITION OF P? S 

A grammar, G, is a four tuple (V,T,S,P), where

V is a set of non-terminals
T is a set of terminals
S is the start non-terminal
P is a set of production rules

14
DERIVATION STEPS AS A RELATION
How can we define ⇒ as a relation?

S  aSb  aaSbb  aaaSbbb  aaabbb

15
 S  aSb  aaSbb
 aaaSbbb  aaabbb
DERIVATIONS AS RELATIONS
Define ⇒* to be zero or more derivation
steps

⇒* is the reflexive transitive closure of ⇒

16
EXERCISE
What derivations are possible given

S  Ab
A  aAb
A

17
LANGUAGE OF A GRAMMAR
The language of a grammar G = (V, T, S, P) are all derivable sentences

18
EXERCISE
What is the language defined by

S  Ab
A  aAb
A

19
LINEAR GRAMMARS
20
LINEAR GRAMMARS
In general, the production rules form a relation on sentential forms

A context free grammar is a grammar, where all production rules are restricted to a
single non-terminal on the left hand side

A linear grammar is a context free grammar with at most one non-terminal on the right
hand side

21
EXAMPLE
Are the following grammars context free or linear?

S  aSb S  Ab S  SS
S  A  aAb S 
A S  aSb
S  bSa
22
EXERCISE
What language does the grammar define?

S  SS
S 
S  aSb
S  bSa

23
EXERCISE
What type of grammar is the following and what language does it define?

SA
A  aB | 
B  Ab

24
LEFT AND RIGHT-LINEAR GRAMMARS
Based on the definition of a linear grammar

what could a left-linear, and right-linear grammar be?

25
EXERCISE
Create a right-linear grammar for the language
L = { w : w ∈ {0,1}*, w contains the substring 00 or 01}

26
REGULAR GRAMMARS
27
REGULAR GRAMMARS

A grammar is a regular grammar if and only if it is right-linear or left-linear.

Theorem: The regular grammars define exactly the regular languages.

Proof:

28
RG PRODUCE RL
29
ARGUMENT OUTLINE
All regular grammars produce regular languages
 must show that RLG and LLG produce regular languages
 different types of proof

All right linear grammars produce regular languages

 by construction; construct an NFA from an RLG accepting the same language

All left linear grammars produce regular language

 translate an LLG into an RLG that accepts the reversed language
 use that regular languages are closed under reversal (i.e., a the reversal of a RL is a RL)

30
PROOF – RIGHT LINEAR GRAMMAR
Lemma 1: ∀G ∈ RLG ∃M ∈ NFA . L(G) = L(M)
Proof: By construction. Two parts 1) show how to create NFA, M, from RLG, G and 2)
show that L(G) = L(M).

31
SIMPLIFYING ASSUMPTION
WLOG, assume all rules are on the form
 Ai → aiAj, or
 A i → ai

Why is this possible?

32
DERIVATIONS OF A RLG
Given RLG with rules on the form
 Ai → aiAj, or
 A i → ai

Consider the form of derivations of some string w

33
GENERAL ALGORITHM
For a right-linear grammar (V, T, S, P) let
 the states Q = V ∪ { Vf }
 the alphabet Σ = T
 the start state q0 = S
 the final states F = { Vf }

δ is then defined by the productions P

 A → aB gives transition from A to B labeled a
 A → a gives transition from A to Vf labeled a

34
EXAMPLE, CREATE NFA
Consider a right-linear grammar

S  aA | B
A  aa B
Bb B|a

35
EXERCISE
Create an NFA for the following grammar

V0  a1V1 | a3V2
V1  a2 a4V3 | a3a4 a8V4
V2  a5V4
V3  a9V1 | a5
V4  a0

36
CORRECTNESS OF THE TRANSLATION
How can we argue L(G) = L(M), where M is the NFA obtained from G as shown?

Must show that

 any derived string can be simulated by the NFA, i.e. ∀w ∈ Σ* . S ⇒* w → Vf ∈ δ*(S, w)

 all strings accepted by the NFA can be derived ∀w ∈ Σ* . Vf ∈ δ*(S, w) → S ⇒* w

Check the book for an argument for why this is the case

37
PROOF – LEFT LINEAR GRAMMARS
Lemma 2: ∀G ∈ LLG . L(G) is regular
Proof:

38
LLG TO RLG
How can a left-linear grammar with productions on the form
 A → Bu and A → u

be turned into a right-linear grammar

 A → uB and A → u

39
EXERCISE
Make the following grammar left linear

S  aA | B
A  aa B
Bb B|a

40
CLOSEDNESS OF RL UNDER REVERSAL
The reversal of a regular language is a regular language
 ∀ L ∈ RL . LR ∈ RL

Can you prove this?

41
COROLLARY, RG PRODUCE RL
Regular grammars produce regular languages
 RG are either RLG or LLG
 RLG produce RL by Lemma 1
 LLG produce RL by Lemma 2

42
EXERCISE
Construct the NFA for the following grammar

S → 0S | 1S | 1T | 0V
T → 1U
V → 0U
U → 0U | 1U | λ

43
ALL RL CAN BE DESCRIBED BY RG
44
ALL RL CAN BE DESCRIBED BY RG
A regular language is a language that
 can be described by an NFA
 can be described by an DFA
 can be described by a RE

A regular grammar is a grammar that is either

 right linear, or
 left linear

45
PROOF - PART 2
Lemma 2: ∀M ∈ DFA ∃G ∈ RL . L(M) = L(G)
Proof: By construction. Given M = (Q, Σ, δ, q0, F) construct G = (Q, Σ, q0,P), where
P is given by
 δ(q1,a) = q2 gives q1 → aq2 ∈ P
 q ∈ F gives q → λ ∈ P

46
EXAMPLE
Create a grammar for the following NFA
 what is L(M)?
b
M a
a
q0 q1 q2

 b
q3
47
EXERCISE, REGULAR GRAMMARS
What are the regular expressions corresponding to the following grammars?

S  abS S  Aab S  SS
S a A  Aab | B S 
Ba S  aSb
S  bSa
48
SUMMARY
Grammars
 non-terminal, terminals, production rules, derivations

Regular grammars
 left linear and right linear
 RLG define RL (by translating into NFA)
 LLG define RL (by translating into RLG defining reverse of language, RL closed under reverse)
 RL can be defined by RG (by translating DFA into RLG)


Conclusion: regular grammars define exactly the regular languages

 DFA  NFA  RE  RG

49
THE CHOMSKY HIERARCHY
50
CHOMSKY’S LANGUAGE HIERARCHY
We will further differentiate the regular languages

Non-regular languages

Regular Languages

51