Niftoid - I'll add a note about this version of 'what the heck this is called' to the DCG tut when I get there.
----- Original Message -----
From: Ulrich Neumerkel ulrich@complang.tuwien.ac.at
To: annie66us@yahoo.com
Cc:
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: DCG
Dear Anne!
Back from the WG17 meeting, the name for the terminal
symbols on the left-hand side of a grammar rule were
again discussed.
right-hand context seems to lead to a lot of misunderstandings
for linguists: A grammar rule is commonly presented as
having a right-hand side RHS and a left-hand side LHS:
LHS --> RHS.
Now, the right-hand context appears in the left-hand side
of the grammar rule.
This leads to a bit too much left-right issues.
Therefore, semicontext was agreed upon. It shares with
the previous notion the same non-operational connotation,
it is much shorter, and yet a blank slate.
It is semi, because a real context (in formal languages)
occurs on both sides:
a, "c" --> b, "c".
Here, the letter c is the context. But if it does not
appear in the body, it is not a context. Thus, a
semicontext.
Niftoid - I'll add a note about this version of 'what the heck this is called' to the DCG tut when I get there.
----- Original Message ----- From: Ulrich Neumerkel ulrich@complang.tuwien.ac.at To: annie66us@yahoo.com Cc: Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 10:51 AM Subject: Re: DCG
Dear Anne!
Back from the WG17 meeting, the name for the terminal symbols on the left-hand side of a grammar rule were again discussed.
right-hand context seems to lead to a lot of misunderstandings for linguists: A grammar rule is commonly presented as having a right-hand side RHS and a left-hand side LHS:
LHS --> RHS.
Now, the right-hand context appears in the left-hand side of the grammar rule.
This leads to a bit too much left-right issues.
Therefore, semicontext was agreed upon. It shares with the previous notion the same non-operational connotation, it is much shorter, and yet a blank slate.
It is semi, because a real context (in formal languages) occurs on both sides:
a, "c" --> b, "c".
Here, the letter c is the context. But if it does not appear in the body, it is not a context. Thus, a semicontext.
So, maybe you want to use it.
Best regards, Ulrich