Properties of Context-free

Languages
By,
Mr.R.Karunamoorthi, AP / CSE

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Closure Property Results
 CFLs are closed under:
 Union
 Concatenation
 Kleene closure operator
 Substitution
 Homomorphism, inverse homomorphism
 reversal
 CFLs are not closed under:
Note: Reg languages
 Intersection are closed
 Difference under
 Complementation these
operators
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 Strategy for Closure Property
Proofs
 First prove “closure under substitution”
 Using the above result, prove other closure properties
 CFLs are closed under:
 Union
 Concatenation
 Kleene closure operator
Prove  Substitution
this first  Homomorphism, inverse homomorphism
 Reversal

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 Note: s(L) can use
a different alphabet

The Substitution operation

For each a  ∑, then let s(a) be a language
If w=a1a2…an  L, then:

s(w) = { x1x2 … }  s(L), s.t., xi  s(ai)
Example:
 Let ∑={0,1}
 Let: s(0) = {anbn | n ≥1}, s(1) = {aa,bb}
 If w=01, s(w)=s(0).s(1)
 E.g., s(w) contains a1 b1 aa, a1 b1bb,
a2 b2 aa, a2 b2bb,
… and so on.

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CFLs are closed under
Substitution
IF L is a CFL and a substititution defined
on L, s(L), is s.t., s(a) is a CFL for every
symbol a, THEN:
 s(L) is also a CFL

What is s(L)?
L s(L)
w1 s(w1) Note: each s(w)
w2 s(L) s(w2) is itself a set of strings
w3 s(w3)
w4 s(w4)
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 CFLs are closed under
Substitution
 G=(V,T,P,S) : CFG for L
 Because every s(a) is a CFL, there is a CFG for each s(a)
 Let Ga = (Va,Ta,Pa,Sa)
 Construct G’=(V’,T’,P’,S) for s(L);
 V’ has V and all V for a  ∑; T’ has T and all a  ∑
 P’ consists of:
 The productions of P, but with every occurrence of terminal “a” in
their bodies replaced by Sa.
 All productions in any Pa, for any a  ∑
Parse tree for G’: S

Sa1 Sa2 San

As w = …
x1x2..xn; CFL
x1 x2 xn 6
Substitution of a CFL:
example
 Let L = language of binary palindromes s.t., substitutions for 0
and 1 are defined as follows:
 s(0) = {anbn | n ≥1}, s(1) = {xx,yy}
 Prove that s(L) is also a CFL.

CFG for L: CFG for s(0): CFG for s(1):

S=> 0S0|1S1| S0=> aS0b | ab S1=> xx | yy

Therefore, CFG for s(L):

S=> S0SS0 | S1 S S1 |
S0=> aS0b | ab
S1=> xx | yy 7
 CFLs are closed under union
Let L1 and L2 be CFLs
To show: L2 U L2 is also a CFL
Let us show by using the result of Substitution
 Make a new language:
 Lnew = {a,b} s.t., s(a) = L1 and s(b) = L2
==> s(Lnew) == same as == L1 U L2

 A more direct, alternative proof

 Let S1 and S2 be the starting variables of the grammars for L1
and L2

Then, Snew => S1 | S2

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 CFLs are closed under
concatenation
 Let L1 and L2 be CFLs
Let us show by using the result of Substitution
 Make Lnew= {ab} s.t.,
s(a) = L1 and s(b)= L2
==> L1 L2 = s(Lnew)

 A more direct, alternative proof

 Let S1 and S2 be the starting variables of the grammars for L1
and L2

Snew => S1 S2

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CFLs are closed under
Kleene Closure
 Let L be a CFL

 Let Lnew = {a}* and s(a) = L1

 Then, L* = s(Lnew)

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 We won’t use substitution to prove this result

CFLs are closed under

Reversal
 Let L be a CFL, with grammar
G=(V,T,P,S)
 For LR, construct GR=(V,T,PR,S) s.t.,
 If A==>  is in P, then:
 A==> R is in PR

 (that is, reverse every production)

 Sentential forms of G are reversal of sentential
forms of GR
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homorphism
 L is in CFL over Σ and h is a
homomorphism on Σ. Let ‘s’ be
substitution that replaces very symbol
‘a’ in Σ by a lang of one string h(a).
s(a)=h(a). Then h(L)=s(L)

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 Some negative closure results

CFLs are not closed under

Intersection
 Existential proof:
 L = {0n1n2i | n≥1,i≥1}
1
 L = {0i1n2n | n≥1,i≥1}
2
 Both L1 and L1 are CFLs
 S AB; A 0A1 | 01; B  2B | 2 ( same no of 0’s and 1’s)

 S AB ; A  0A | 0; B  1B2 | 12 (same no of 1’s and

2’s)
 But L1  L2 cannot be a CFL
 Why?  same no of 0,1,2  not CFL

 We have an example, where intersection is not closed.

 Therefore, CFLs are not closed under intersection

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 Some negative closure results

CFLs are not closed under

complementation
 Follows from the fact that CFLs are not
closed under intersection

 L1  L2 = L1 U L2
Logic: if CFLs were to be closed under complementation
 the whole right hand side becomes a CFL (because
CFL is closed for union)
 the left hand side (intersection) is also a CFL
 but we just showed CFLs are
NOT closed under intersection!
 CFLs cannot be closed under complementation.
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 Some negative closure results

CFLs are not closed under

difference
 Follows from the fact that CFLs are not
closed under complementation

 Because, if CFLs are closed under

difference, then:
 L = ∑* - L
 So L has to be a CFL too
 Contradiction

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