Affix grammar

An affix grammar is a two-level grammar formalism used to describe the syntax of languages, mainly computer languages, using an approach based on how natural language is typically described.[1]

The formalism was invented in 1962 by Lambert Meertens while developing a grammar for generating English sentences.[2] Meertens also applied affix grammars to the description and composition of music, and obtained a special prize from the jury at the 1968 International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Congress in Edinburgh for his computer-generated string quartet, Quartet No. 1 in C major for 2 violins, viola and violoncello, based on the first non-context-free affix grammar.[3][4] The string quartet was published in 1968, as Mathematical Centre Report MR 96.[5]

The grammatical rules of an affix grammar are those of a context-free grammar, except that certain parts in the nonterminals (the affixes) are used as arguments. If the same affix occurs multiple times in a rule, its value must agree, i.e. it must be the same everywhere. In some types of affix grammar, more complex relationships between affix values are possible.

  1. ^ Koster, Cornelis HA. "Affix grammars for natural languages." Attribute Grammars, Applications and Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1991.
  2. ^ Koster, C. H. A. (1965). On the construction of ALGOL-procedures for generating, analysing and translating sentences in natural languages (Technical report). Mathematical Centre. MR72.
  3. ^ Kassler, Michael (1969). "Report from Edinburgh". Perspectives of New Music. 7 (2): 175–177. doi:10.2307/832302. JSTOR 832302..
  4. ^ Quartet No. 1 in C major for 2 violins, viola and violoncello. Score and links to mp3 sound files of a performance by the Amsterdam String Quartet (1968).
  5. ^ Meertens, Lambert (1968). Quartet no. 1 in C major for 2 violins, viola and violoncello (Technical report). Mathematical Centre. MR96.