Syntactic analysis of natural languages is a subfield of natural language processing (NLP) that is often claimed to be a “corner stone” of the area, a necessary base for any advanced language processing and real understanding. we describe the syntax analysis of programming languages by using classical language models context -free grammars and pushdown automata. In the present chapter, however, we sketch the syntax analysis of natural languages based upon alternative grammatical models namely scattered context grammars.we have illustrated how to transform and generate grammatical sentences in English by using transformational scattered context grammars, which represent a very natural linguistic apparatus straightforwardly based on scattered context grammars. However, from a more general perspective, we can apply these grammars basically in any area of science that formalizes its results by strings containing some scattered context dependencies.

Chapter Contents:

• 18.1 Syntax and related linguistic terminology
• 18.1.1 Introduction by way of examples
• 18.1.2 Terminology
• 18.1.3 Verbs
• 18.1.4 Personal pronouns
• 18.2 Transformational scattered context grammars
• 18.3 Scattered context in English syntax
• 18.3.1 Clauses with neither and nor
• 18.3.2 Existential clauses
• 18.3.3 Interrogative clauses
• 18.3.4 Question tags
• 18.3.5 Generation of grammatical sentences

Inspec keywords: natural language processing; context-free grammars

Other keywords: context -free grammars; pushdown automata; syntax analysis; natural language processing; NLP; programming languages; transformational scattered context grammars

Subjects: Formal languages and computational linguistics; Natural language interfaces