Decision problems for Clark-congruential languages

A common question when studying a class of context-free grammars is whether equivalence is decidable within this class. We answer this question positively for the class of Clark-congruential grammars, which are of interest to grammatical inference. We also consider the problem of checking whether a given CFG is Clark-congruential, and show that it is decidable given that the CFG is a DCFG.Comment: Version 2 incorporates revisions prompted by the comments of anonymous referees at ICGI and LearnAu

Nonterminal Separating Macro Grammars

We extend the concept of nonterminal separating (or NTS) context-free grammar to nonterminal separating $m$-macro grammar where the mode of derivation $m$ is equal to "unrestricted". "outside-in' or "inside-out". Then we show some (partial) characterization results for these NTS $m$-macro grammars

Decision problems for Clark-congruential languages

A common question when studying a class of context-free grammars (CFGs) is whether equivalence is decidable within this class. We answer this question positively for the class of Clark-congruential grammars, which are of interest to grammatical inference. We also consider the problem of checking whether a given CFG is Clark-congruential, and show that it is decidable given that the CFG is a deterministic CFG

Toward a theory of input-driven locally parsable languages

If a context-free language enjoys the local parsability property then, no matter how the source string is segmented, each segment can be parsed independently, and an efficient parallel parsing algorithm becomes possible. The new class of locally chain parsable languages (LCPLs), included in the deterministic context-free language family, is here defined by means of the chain-driven automaton and characterized by decidable properties of grammar derivations. Such automaton decides whether to reduce or not a substring in a way purely driven by the terminal characters, thus extending the well-known concept of input-driven (ID) alias visibly pushdown machines. The LCPL family extends and improves the practically relevant Floyd's operator-precedence (OP) languages which are known to strictly include the ID languages, and for which a parallel-parser generator exists

On the Generating Power of Regularly Controlled Bidirectional Grammars

RCB-grammars or regularly controlled bidirectional grammars are context-free grammars of which the rules can be used in a productive and in a reductive fashion. In addition, the application of these rules is controlled by a regular language. Several modes of derivation can be distinguished for this kind of grammar. In this paper the generating power of the derivation mode that uses right-occurrence rewriting (RO-mode) is determined. Furthermore, a new mode called RA is introduced, which is a better formalization of the intuitive idea of right-occurrence rewriting than the RO-mode. The RO- and RA-mode have the same generating power, viz. the corresponding RCB-grammars both generate the recursively enumerable languages. Consequently, providing RCB/RO-grammars with a time bound results in a less powerful grammar model

On the generating power of regularly controlled bidirection grammars

RCB-grammars or regularly controlled bidirectional grammars are context-free grammars of which the rules can be used in a productive and in a reductive fashion. In addition, the application of these\ud rules is controlled by a regular language. Several modes of derivation can be distinguished for this kind of grammar. In this paper the generating power of the derivation mode that uses right-occurrence rewriting (RO-mode) is determined. Furthermore, a new mode called RA is introduced, which is a better formalization of the intuitive idea of rightoccurrence rewriting than the RO-mode. The RO- and RA-mode have the same generating power, viz. the corresponding RCB-grammars both generate the recursively enumerable languages. Consequently, providing RCB/RO-grammars with a time bound results in a less powerful grammar model

Controlled Rewriting Using Productions and Reductions

We investigate context-free grammars the rules of which can be used in a productive and in a reductive fashion, while the application of these rules is controlled by a regular language. We distinguish several modes of derivation for this kind of grammar. The resulting language families (properly) extend the family of context-free languages. We establish some closure properties of these language families and some grammatical transformations which yield a few normal forms for this type of grammar. Finally, we consider some special cases (viz. the context-free grammar is linear or left-linear), and generalizations, in particular, the use of arbitrary rather than regular control languages

The Inclusion Problem for Some Subclasses of Context-Free Languages

AbstractBy a reduction to Post's Correspondence Problem we provide a direct proof of the known fact that the inclusion problem for unambiguous context-free grammars is undecidable. The argument or some straightforward modification also applies to some other subclasses of context-free languages such as linear languages, sequential languages, and DSC-languages (i.e., languages generated by context-free grammars with disjunct syntactic categories). We also consider instances of the problem “Is L(D1)⊆L(D2)?” where D1 and D2 are taken from possibly different descriptor families of subclasses of context-free languages

Controlled Bidirectional Grammars

We investigate context-free grammars the rules of which can be used in a productive and in a reductive fashion, while the application of these rules is controlled by a regular language. We distinguish several modes of derivation for this kind of grammar. The resulting language families (properly) extend the family of context-free languages. We establish some closure properties of these language families and some grammatical transformations which yield a few normal forms for this type of grammar. Finally, we consider some special cases (viz. the context-free grammar is linear or left-linear), and generalizations, in particular, the use of arbitrary rather than regular control languages

Time-Bounded Controlled Bidirectional Grammars

We study regularly controlled bidirectional (RCB) grammars from the viewpoint of time-bounded grammars. RCB-grammars are context-free grammars of which the rules can be used in a productive and in a reductive fashion, while the application of these rules is controlled by a regular language. Several modes of derivation can be distinguished for this kind of grammar. A time-bound on such a grammar is a measure of its derivational complexity. For some families of time bounds and for some modes of derivation we establish closure properties and a normal form theorem. In addition parsing algorithms are given for some modes of derivation. We conclude with considering generalizations with respect to the family of control languages and the family of bounding functions