CS 3186

Regular Grammars
Section 3.3

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 Notation (described earlier)

Grammar G  V , T , S , P 
V : Set of variables

T : Set of terminal symbols

S: Start variable

P: Set of Production rules

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 Production rules
Recall from Chapter 1, that the general form of

For Regular Grammars, there is a severe restriction

on the production rules. i.e., on both “x” and “y”.
• x can only be one variable
• Y can contain only have at most one variable and
more restriction on where the variable can occur.

Regular grammars are further described by first

defining a class of Linear Grammars.
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 Linear Grammars
Linear Grammar: Grammars with one variable
on the left side and at most one variable at
the right side of a production

Examples:
S  Ab SA
S  aSb
A  aAb A  aB | 
S 
A B  Ab

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 A Non-Linear Grammar

Grammar G: S  SS
S 
S  aSb
S  bSa

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 Linear Grammars
Linear Grammars can be right linear
grammars or left linear grammars
depending on the position of the non
terminal in the production rule.

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 Right-Linear Grammars
All productions have form: A  xB
or
A x

Example: S  abS string of

S a terminals

Note: The non terminal is the right most symbol in

the production rule.
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 Left-Linear Grammars
All productions have form: A  Bx
or
A x

Example: S  Aab string of

A  Aab | B terminals

Ba
Note: The non terminal is the left most symbol in the production rule
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Regular Grammars

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 Regular Grammars
A regular grammar is any right-linear or left-
linear grammar (If a grammar mixes the concepts
of right and left linearity, it is not a regular grammar)

Examples for regular grammars ({S}, {a, b}, S, P) with P given by

S  abS S  Aab
S a A  Aab | B
Ba

Example of a non regular grammar ({S}, {a, b}, S, P) with P given by

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Regular Grammars
and
Regular Languages

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 Theorem

Languages
Generated by
Regular Grammars
 Regular
Languages

(1)Regular grammars generates Regular

languages.
(2) Regular grammars for Regular
languages
Both (1) and (2) are proven by construction

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Note:

Regular grammars: Consider right-linear

grammars.

Regular languages: There exists a nfa or dfa

that accepts the language.

We seek to show the equivalence of language

generated by right-linear grammar and
language accepted by a nfa.
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Regular grammars generates Regular languages

Let G be a right-linear grammar

We will prove: L(G ) is regular

Proof idea: We will construct NFA M

with L( M )  L(G )

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 Example
Grammar G is right-linear

Example: S  aA | B
A  aa B
Bb B|a

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 Example (continued)
Construct NFA M such that
every state is a grammar variable:

A
special
S VF
final state
B
S  aA | B
A  aa B
Bb B|a 16
 Example (continued)
Construction procedure: Add edges for each
production as follows

a A
S VF
B

S  aA

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 Example (continued)

a A
S VF

B

S  aA | B

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 Example (continued)
A
a a

S a VF

B
S  aA | B
A  aa B
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 Example (continued)
A
a a

S a VF

B
S  aA | B
b
A  aa B
B  bB 20
 Example (continued)
A
a a

S a VF
 a
B
S  aA | B
b
A  aa B
B  bB | a 21
 Theorem
Theorem: Let G = (V,T,S,P) be a right-linear
grammar. Then L(G) is a regular language.

Proof: By construction of NFA.

Let V = {V0, V1,…}; S= V0 ;
Productions P are of the form
Vi  a1a2 amV j
Vi  a1a2 am

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 Proof (continued)
We construct the NFA M such that:

each variable Vi corresponds to a node:

V1 V3
V0
VF
V2 V4 special
final state
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 Proof (continued)
For each production: Vi  a1a2 amV j

we add transitions and intermediate nodes

Vi a1 a2 ………
am V
j

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 Proof (continued)
For each production: Vi  a1a2  am
we add transitions and intermediate nodes

Vi a1 a2 ………
am
VF

Resulting NFA may look like this

a9

a2 a4
a1 V1 V3
a3 a5
V0
a3 a4
VF
a9
V2 a5 a8
V4
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 Proof (continued)
If w ∈ L(G), then there is a path in the NFA (by
construction) from V0 to VF

If w is accepted by the NFA, then by construction,

we can produce a derivation sequence V0 w

Then L(G) = L(M)

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 Previous Example

For the derivation sequence for w=aaaba

S  aA  aaaB  aaabB  aaaba
There exists a path from S to VF on w=aaaba
If w ∈ L(G) then w ∈ L(M) 27
 Previous Example

There is a path from S to VF on w=ba

Then there is a corresponding derivation sequence

If w ∈ L(M) then w ∈ L(G) 28

 The case of Left-Linear Grammars
Let G be a left-linear grammar
We can construct an equivalent right-linear
grammar. (skip this construction proof)

Hence, the language L(G) generated by any

regular grammar (left-linear or right-
linear) is regular.

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 Previous Example
Given G= ({S,A,B},{a,b},S,P} where P:

Constructed an equivalent nfa

({S,A,I,B,Vf},{a,b}, ,S,Vf), where is given by
the transition graph:

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Regular Grammars for Regular Languages

Theorem: If L is a regular language over then

there exists a right-linear grammar G=(V, , ,S,P),
such that L=L(G)

Proof: (By construction) The idea is to start with

the finite acceptor (DFA or NFA) of the language
and reverse the earlier construction. i.e., the
states of the acceptor become the variables, and
the symbols causing the transitions become the
terminals in the grammar.

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 Proof (continued)
Let finite acceptor M  Q, ,  , q0 , F  accept L.
Assume that Q= (q0,q1,…qn) and let =(a1,a2,…am).
Construct the right-linear grammar G=(V, ,S,P),
with V=(q0,q1,…qn) and S = q0
For each transition (qi,aj) = qk of M, add a
production in P qi aj qk
If qf is in F, add qf

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 Proof (continued)
If w= ai,aj,…akaf ∈ L. For M to accept this string, there
exists a path (make moves in M)
(q0,ai) = qp (qp,aj) = qr ……………. (qs,ai) = qt (qs,af) = qf ∈ F
By construction, there will be productions for each of
the ‘s. i.e., of the form qx ay qz
We can make a derivation q0 ai qp …… ai,aj,…akaf with
the grammar G and w ∈ L(G)

Conversely, if w ∈ L(G), then there is a derivation of the

form q0 ai qp …… ai,aj,…akaf . This implies that
(q0, ai,aj,…akaf ) = qf . This implies ai,aj,…akaf is accepted.

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 Example
Given an NFA, M
M  Q, ,  , q0 , F 
Where Q={q0,q1,q2,q3},
=(a,b}, F={q3}, given by

The equivalent right-linear grammar, G is

({q0,q1,q2,q3}, {a,b},q0,P), where P are
defined by

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 Another Example
Given an NFA,

The equivalent right-linear grammar G=({S,I,J,K},

(a,b}, S, P) where P are defined by:

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 Summary
• Regular languages (expressed as Regular
expressions or accepted by NFA) and
Regular grammars are equivalent.
• NFA and DFA are equivalent.
• The construction algorithms in this
chapter enable us to convert back and
forth between the various representations
of Regular languages (Regular expression,
NFA or DFA, Regular Grammars)

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Summary

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 Homework 3.3
(I) Do Exercises: # 1,2

(II) Write an NFA for L and then convert to a right-linear grammar for
Exercises: #3, #6

(III) Write a right-linear grammar for Exercise #10

(IV) Write a right linear grammar for the NFA described in Exercise #1,
#2, #3,#10, #12 (Section 3.2)

(V) Consider the grammar G=( {S, A},{a,b}, S, P) with P given by:
S → aS|bA A → bA A→
Construct an equivalent NFA

(V) Construct an equivalent NFA for the grammar below

S→ S → aT S → bT T→a T→b T → aS T → bS

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