LANGUAGE OF GRAMMARS

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Language of Grammar:

 Language of Grammar ‘ G ’ is the set of all strings that can

be generated from the grammar G.

 If the language generated by the grammar consists of finite

number of strings, then the language is called as a finite
language otherwise an infinite language.

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Example: Consider a grammar G = (V , T , P , S) where-
V={S}
T={a,b}
P = { S → aSbS , S → bSaS , S → ∈ }
S={S}

This grammar generates the strings having equal number of

a’s and b’s.

So, language of this grammar is :

L(G) = { ∈ , ab , ba , aabb , bbaa , abab , baba , …… } 

Since language of the given grammar consists of infinite

number of strings, therefore language of the given grammar is
infinite.

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Example: Consider a grammar G = (V , T , P , S) where-
V={S,A,B,C}
T={a,b,c}
P = { S → ABC , A → a , B → b , C → c }
S={S}
 This grammar generates only one string “abc”.
 So, language of this grammar is - L(G) = { abc } 

Since language of the given grammar consists of finite number of strings,

therefore language of the given grammar is finite.

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Important Concept:
 For any given grammar, the language generated by it is

always unique.
 However for any given language, we may have more than

grammar generating the given language.

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Grammar G1-
S → AB
A → a
B → b
The language generated by this grammar is- L(G1) = { ab }
 
Grammar G2-
S → AB
A → ∈
B → ab
The language generated by this grammar is- L(G2) = { ab }

Note:
 Here, both the grammars generate a unique language and given a
language L(G) = { ab }, we have two different grammars generating the
same language.
 This justifies that for any given language, we may have more than
grammar generating the given language.
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Regular Expressions
Regular Expressions are used to denote regular
languages.

Regular Expressions can be represented using meta

characters such as +, *, . , / , ( )
Examples:
1) a*
2) (a/b)*
3) (0* + 1)
4) (x+y+z)+
5) (0+1)*0(0+1)*0(0+1)*
6) (1*0)*1*
7) (0 + 1)* 10(0 + 1)*

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Regular Sets:
A set that represents the value of the regular expression is
called a regular set.

a) 0 represents the set {0}

b) 1 represents the set {1}
c) ε represents the set {ε}
d) ∅ represents the empty set { }

If α and β are regular expressions representing the sets A

and B, then:

e) (αβ) represents the set { AB }

f) (α + β) represents the set { A∪B }
g) (α)* represents the set { A* }
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Regular Grammar : 

A grammar is regular if it has rules of any one of the

following forms
A -> a
A -> aB
A -> ɛ ( Where ɛ is a special symbol called NULL )
 
Then that grammar is called regular grammar.

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Regular Languages : 
A language is regular if it can be expressed in terms of
regular expressions.
( or )
A regular language can be generated from regular grammar

Ex:

If a* is a regular expression, then

L(a*) = { ϵ , a, aa, aaa,……}

L(a+) = { a, aa, aaa,……}

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Definition of Non-Regular Languages
A language that cannot be defined by a regular expression is
called a non-regular language.
Notes:
– By Kleene’s theorem, a non-regular language can also not
be accepted by any FA.
– All languages are either regular or non-regular; none are
both.

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Properties of Regular Sets

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Property 1. The union of two regular set is regular.
Proof −
Let us take two regular expressions
RE1 = a(aa)* L1 = {a, aaa, aaaaa,.....}
RE2 = (aa)* L2 ={ ε, aa, aaaa, aaaaaa,.......}

L1 ∪ L2  = { ε, a, aa, aaa, aaaa, aaaaa, aaaaaa,.......}

Therefore

RE (L1 ∪ L2) = a*  (which is a regular expression itself)

Where  
L1 Strings of odd length excluding Null
L2 Strings of even length including Null
L1 ∪ L2  Strings of all possible lengths including Null
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Property 2. The intersection of two regular set is regular.
Proof −
Let us take two regular expressions
RE1 = a(a*) L1 = { a,aa, aaa, aaaa, ....}
RE2 = (aa)* L2 = { ε, aa, aaaa, aaaaaa,.......}
So, 
L1 ∩ L2 = { aa, aaaa, aaaaaa,.......}

Therefore

RE (L1 ∩ L2) = aa(aa)* which is a regular expression itself

Where
L1  Strings of all possible lengths excluding Null
L2  Strings of even length including Null
L1 ∩ L2 Strings of even length excluding Null
.
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Property 3. The complement of a regular set is regular.
Proof −
Let us take a regular expression −
RE = (aa)* L = {ε, aa, aaaa, aaaaaa, .......}

L’ = {a, aaa, aaaaa, .....}

Therefore

RE (L’) = a(aa)* which is a regular expression itself.

Where

L Strings of even length including Null

L’ All the strings that is not in L. So, 
(Strings of odd length excluding Null)

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Property 4. The difference of two regular set is regular.
Proof −
Let us take two regular expressions −
RE1 = a (a*) L1 = {a, aa, aaa, aaaa, ....}
RE2 = (aa)* L2 = { ε, aa, aaaa, aaaaaa,.......}

L1 – L2 = {a, aaa, aaaaa, aaaaaaa, ....}

Therefore

RE (L1 – L2) = a (aa)* which is a regular expression.

Where
L1 =   Strings of all possible lengths excluding Null
L2 = Strings of even length including Null
L1 – L2 (Strings of all odd lengths excluding Null)
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Property 5. The reversal of a regular set is regular.
Proof −
We have to prove LR is also regular if L is a regular set.
Let, 
L = {01, 10, 11, 10}
RE (L) = 01 + 10 + 11 + 10

LR  = {10, 01, 11, 01}

RE (LR) = 01 + 10 + 11 + 10

which is regular

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Property 6: The closure of a regular set is regular.
Proof −
If L = {a, aaa, aaaaa, .......} 
(Strings of odd length excluding Null)

i.e.,  RE (L) = a (aa)*

L* = {a, aa, aaa, aaaa , aaaaa,……………} 

(Strings of all lengths excluding Null)

RE (L*) = a (a)*

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Property 7. The concatenation of two regular sets is regular.
Proof −
Let  RE1 = (0+1)*0
RE2 = 01(0+1)*

Here,  L1 = {0, 00, 10, 000, 010, ......} 

(Set of strings ending in 0)
and  L2 = {01, 010,011,.....} 
(Set of strings beginning with 01)
Then, 

L1 L2 = { 001,0010,0011,0001,00010,00011,1001,10010,.....}
Set of strings containing 001 as a substring which can be
represented by

RE = (0 + 1)*001(0 + 1)*
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Identities Rules of Regular Expressions :
Given R, P, L, Q as regular expressions, the following identities hold −
1. ∅* = ε
2. ε* = ε
3. RR* = R*R
4. R*R* = R*
5. (R*)* = R*
6. RR* = R*R
7. (PQ)*P =P(QP)*
8. (a+b)* = (a*b*)* = (a*+b*)* = (a+b*)* = a*(ba*)*
9. R + ∅ = ∅ + R = R (The identity for union)
10. R ε = ε R = R (The identity for concatenation)
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11. ∅ L = L ∅ = ∅  (The annihilator for concatenation)
12. R + R = R  (Idempotent law)
13. L (M + N) = LM + LN  (Left distributive law)
14. (M + N) L = ML + NL  (Right distributive law)
15. ε + RR* = ε + R*R = R*

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 Regular Regular Language Regular set
Expression
ϵ L(ϵ) {ϵ}

Ø L(Ø) { }

x L(x) { x}

Y L(y) {y}

x+y L(x+y)=L(x) U L(y) { x,y }

xy L(xy)=L(x). L(y) {xy}

R* L(R*) = (L(R) )* {ϵ, R, RR,RRR,..}

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