Context Free Languages

 Context Free Grammars

 Parsing Arithmetic Expression
 Removing λ-productions
 Normal forms

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 1

Context Free Grammar (CFG)

 Definition: A CFG, G, is a PSG G=(N, T, P, S) with

productions of the form A  β, A Є N, β Є (NUT)*.
 CFGs are used in defining the syntax of programming
languages and in parsing arithmetic expressions.
 A language generated from CFG is called Context Free
Language (CFL).
 Ex.
a) S  aB b) S  aB|A
B  bA|b A  aA|a|CBA
Aa Bλ
Cc

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 2

CFG: cont’d

 Let G be a CFG, then x Є L(G) iff S  x in

zero or more steps over G.
 x Є L(G) can as well be obtained from a
derivation tree or parse tree. The root of the
tree is S and x is the collection of leaves from
left to right.
 Left most derivation: employs the reduction
of the left most non-terminal
 Right most derivation: employs the reduction
of the right most non-terminal

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 3

CFG: cont’d
 If a derivation of a string x has two different left most
derivations, then the grammar is said to be ambiguous.
Otherwise unambiguous.
(i.e. a grammar is ambiguous if it can produce more than one
parse tree for a particular sentence.
 Ex.
1. G1 = (N, T, P, S) with productions:
S  AB
A  aA|a
B  bB|b
let x = aaabbb
a) find a left most and right most derivations for x
b) draw the parse tree for x

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 4

CFG: cont’d

2. G2 = (N, T, P, S) with productions:

S  SbS|ScS|a
let x = abaca Є L(G2)
a) find a left most and right most
derivations for x
b) draw the parse tree for x
3. Is G1 ambiguous? Is G2?

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 5

Parsing Arithmetic Expression

 Consider the following grammar:

ET|E+T|E–T
T  F | T * F | T/F
F  a | b | c | (E)

Draw parse trees for

a) a*b+c b) a+b*c c) (a+b)*c d) a-b-c

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 6

Removing λ-productions

 Let G be a CFG and A  α, A Є N

1. If α = λ, then A  α is a λ-production
2. If α ≠ λ for all productions, then G is λ-free
3. If A => λ in zero or more steps, then A is called nullable or λ-
generating non-terminal
 Ex. Let G=(N, T, P, S) be a CFG with productions:
S  ABaC
AB
B  b| λ
C  c| λ
Find the non-terminals which are nullable.
January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 7
Removing λ-productions: cont’d

 Let G=(N, T, P, S) be a CFG with λ-productions.

Construct G’=(N, T, P’, S), a λ-free CFG as
follows:
1. Put all non λ-productions of P in P’
2. For all nullable non-terminals, put productions in P’ by
removing one or more nullable non-terminals on the right side
productions.
Thus, L(G) \ {λ} = L(G’)
Ex1: Construct G’ for the previous example.
Ex2: Construct G’ for a grammar G with productions:
S  aS | AB
Aλ
Bλ
Db

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 8

Removing λ-productions: cont’d

 Theorem: For any CFG G, there exists a

CFG G’ with λ-free productions such that
L(G) \{λ} = L(G’).
 A production A  α is called relevant/useful
iff there exists a derivation of some xЄL(G)
that uses the production. Otherwise, it’s
called irrelevant/useless.
Ex. S  aSb | A | λ
A  aA | λ
January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 9
Normal Forms

 When the productions in a CFG G satisfy certain

restrictions, G is said to be in a normal form.
 We’ll see two normal forms: CNF and GNF

1. Chomsky Normal Form (CNF)

 Let G=(N, T, P, S) be a CFG and A  α be a
production of G.
1. If α = B, B in N, then A  α is called a Unit production
2. If |α|>1 and there exists a terminal substring of α, then A  α
is called a Secondary production
3. If α contains more than two non-terminals, then A  α is
called a Tertiary production

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 10

Chomsky Normal Form (CNF)

 Definition: Let G = (N, T, P, S) be a λ-free CFG, then

G is said to be in CNF if all its productions are of the
form:
A  BC where A, B, C Є N
OR
A  a, a Є T, A Є N
Ex. G with productions
S  AB
Aa
Bb

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 11

CNF: cont’d

 Theorem: Any λ-free CFL can be generated by a

CFG in CNF.
proof:
Let G = (N, T, P, S) be a λ-free grammar such that
L = L(G). Construct a grammar G which is in CNF.
Steps:
1. Replace all Unit productions as follows:
 For any A Є N on the LHS of the Unit production, denote U(A)
and non-Unit productions of A by N(A)
 For each A Є N and U(A) ≠ Ø replace U(A) by
{A  α | A=>B in one or more steps, and Bα Є N(B)}

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 12

CNF: cont’d
2. Replace all Secondary productions as follows:
For any a Є T, a substring of a Secondary production,
replace a by Aa where Aa is a new non-terminal and
Aaa.
3. Replace all Tertiary productions as follows:
If A  B1B2…Bm, m>2, then replace the production by:
A  B1B1’
B1’  B2B2’
B2’  B3B3’
…
Bm-2’  Bm-1Bm, where B1’, …, Bm-2’ are all unique
new non-terminals that do not appear in any other
production.

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 13

CNF: cont’d

 Ex. Convert the following grammars to CNF

1. Let G be a CFG with productions:
S  A | ABA
A  aA | a| B
B  bB | b

2. Let G be a CFG with productions:

S  aAD
A  aB | bAB
Bb
Dd

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 14

Identification of non-CFLs

 Pumping lemma for CFLs

(Reading assignment)

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 15

Greibach Normal Form (GNF)

 Let G=(N, T, P, S) be a λ-free CFG, then if all the

productions of G are of the form
A  aα, A Є N, a Є T, α Є N*
then G is said to be in GNF

 Theorem G1: If A  α1Bα2 is a production in a CFG

G and B  β1|β2|β3|…|βk are all productions with B
on the LHS, then
A  α1B α2 can be replaced by
A  α1β1α2| α1β2α2| … | α1βkα2
without affecting L(G).

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 16

GNF: cont’d

 Theorem G2: If in a CFG there is a production A 

Aα1 | Aα2 | … | Aαn | β1|β2|…|βm, such a production
is called left recursive, and A  β1|β2|β3|…|βm are
the remaining productions with A on the LHS.
Then an equivalent grammar can be constructed by
introducing a new non-terminal, A’, and replacing all
these productions by:
A  β1|β2|β3|…|βm| β1A’| β2A’|…| βmA’
A’  α1| α2|…| αn| α1A’| α2A’|…| αnA’

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 17

GNF: cont’d
 Theorem GNF: Any λ-free CFG G can be converted into a
grammar in GNF.
Proof:
Let G be a λ-free CFG. To convert G into GNF use the steps below:
1. Convert G into CNF, G’
2. Rename the non-terminals in G’ as
A1, A2, …, Am (m>=1)
3. Convert all the productions into
Ai  aα or Ai  Ajα with j > i
To convert to the form Ai  Ajα with j > i, do the following:
Substitute for Aj according to Theorem G1.
If there exist left recursive productions with Ai on the LHS, then
introduce a new non-terminal Ai’ and apply Theorem G2.

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 18

GNF: cont’d

4. After the 3rd step, the productions will be

of the form
i. Ai  Ajα, j > i, αЄ(NUN’)* where N’ stands for
the new non-terminals Ai introduced.
ii. Ai  aα, a Є T, αЄ(NUN’)* or

iii. Ai’  xα, xЄ(NUT), αЄ(NUN’)*

Replace (i) by using Theorem G1

(iii) by using Theorem G2

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 19

GNF: cont’d

Ex. Convert to GNF

1. Let G be with productions
S  AB
A  BS | b
B  SA | a
2. Let G be with productions
A 1  A 2A 2 | a
A 2  A 1A 2 | b
January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 20
Closure Properties of CFGs

 Theorem: CFGs are closed under:

a) Union
b) Concatenation
c) Kleen star(*)

January 4, 2024 Formal Language Theory 21