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Old 18-Oct-2005, 15:16
Roro Roro is offline
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Default Re: Just how would you define "context"?

Quote:
Quick definitions of 'context'
noun: discourse that surrounds a language unit and helps to determine its interpretation
noun: the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event (Example: "The historical context")
Thank you for your definitions, M56. They are fairly appropriate, not only concise.

My view was too narrow. It had, however, some basis

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Definitions of context-free grammars:

Grammars specified as rules that can be applied regardless of context. Thus, if there is a rule which says that an integer can be used as an expression, integers are allowed anywhere an expression is permitted. See Language and Grammar.
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/help/doc/.../Glossary.html

In linguistics and computer science, a context-free grammar (CFG) is a formal grammar in which every production rule is of the form where V is a non-terminal symbol and w is a string consisting of terminals and/or non-terminals. The term "context-free" comes from the fact that the non-terminal V can always be replaced by w, regardless of the context in which it occurs. A formal language is context-free if there is a context-free grammar that generates it.
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Such a view does have its limitations, of course I know, so I'd accept your view.
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