6.2. Nomenclature.   

The possible elements (M,I,U in this case) of the formal language are called symbols. The set of rules governing the construction of strings or sentences is called the syntax of the language.

The notation and ideas of formal language are used in number theory, language theory (linguistics) and in our field, syntax analysis and language design. 


We can go from generating strings from a set of rules to

generate a set of rules for syntax from a known language.


E.g: Construct a set of rules to enable syntactic analysis

     of a persons name.

      Mr Frank Smith                  Harry S. Truman

      Andrew                          Mary E. Sally Jones B.Sc


            <P>::=<T><F><S><L>

            <T>::=~|<A>

            <F>::={<B>}

            <S>::=~|<C>

            <L>::={<D>}


            <A>::="Mr"|"Miss"|"Mrs"|"Mis"|"Dr".....

            <B>::=<E>|<D>

            <C>::="names"

            <D>::="letters" "."

            <E>::="names"

The above is called a syntax graph and can be used to represent the rules at various levels.  

name_example.eps

There are rules for graph construction that we shall investigate. First look at rules governing symbol manipulation, sentence generation and sentence analysis.
"Clearly, we cannot be bothered with the problem of finding a recognition algorithm for any given language, but we will work pragmatically in reverse direction: define an efficient algorithm and then determine class of languages that can be treated by it."

Niklaus Wirth.

Please think about the MIU Puzzle solution before looking at the solution.
We shall now look at the Syntax Analysis in detail.