Grammatical Framework Tutorial Author: Aarne Ranta Last update: %%date(%c) % NOTE: this is a txt2tags file. % Create an html file from this file using: % txt2tags --toc gf-tutorial2.txt %!target:html % workaround for some missing things in the format % %!postproc(html): C-
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% %!postproc(html): t- % %!postproc(html): -t [../gf-logo.gif] %--! ==Introduction== ===GF = Grammatical Framework=== The term GF is used for different things: - a **program** used for working with grammars - a **programming language** in which grammars can be written - a **theory** about grammars and languages This tutorial is primarily about the GF program and the GF programming language. It will guide you - to use the GF program - to write GF grammars - to write programs in which GF grammars are used as components %--! ===What are GF grammars used for=== A grammar is a definition of a language. From this definition, different language processing components can be derived: - parsing: to analyse the language - linearization: to generate the language - translation: to analyse one language and generate another A GF grammar can be seen as a declarative program from which these processing tasks can be automatically derived. In addition, many other tasks are readily available for GF grammars: - morphological analysis: find out the possible inflection forms of words - morphological synthesis: generate all inflection forms of words - random generation: generate random expressions - corpus generation: generate all expressions - teaching quizzes: train morphology and translation - multilingual authoring: create a document in many languages simultaneously - speech input: optimize a speech recognition system for your grammar A typical GF application is based on a **multilingual grammar** involving translation on a special domain. Existing applications of this idea include - [Alfa: http://www.cs.chalmers.se/%7Ehallgren/Alfa/Tutorial/GFplugin.html]: a natural-language interface to a proof editor (languages: English, French, Swedish) - [KeY http://www.key-project.org/]: a multilingual authoring system for creating software specifications (languages: OCL, English, German) - [TALK http://www.talk-project.org]: multilingual and multimodal dialogue systems - [WebALT http://webalt.math.helsinki.fi/content/index_eng.html]: a multilingual translator of mathematical exercises (languages: Catalan, English, Finnish, French, Spanish, Swedish) - [Numeral translator http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~bringert/gf/translate/]: number words from 1 to 999,999 (88 languages) The specialization of a grammar to a domain makes it possible to obtain much better translations than in an unlimited machine translation system. This is due to the well-defined semantics of such domains. Grammars having this character are called **application grammars**. They are different from most grammars written by linguists just because they are multilingual and domain-specific. However, there is another kind of grammars, which we call **resource grammars**. These are large, comprehensive grammars that can be used on any domain. The GF Resource Grammar Library has resource grammars for 10 languages. These grammars can be used as **libraries** to define application grammars. In this way, it is possible to write a high-quality grammar without knowing about linguistics: in general, to write an application grammar by using the resource library just requires practical knowledge of the target language. and all theoretical knowledge about its grammar is given by the libraries. %--! ===Who is this tutorial for=== This tutorial is mainly for programmers who want to learn to write application grammars. It will go through GF's programming concepts without entering too deep into linguistics. Thus it should be accessible to anyone who has some previous programming experience. A separate document is being written on how to write resource grammars. This includes the ways in which linguistic problems posed by different languages are solved in GF. %--! ===The coverage of the tutorial=== The tutorial gives a hands-on introduction to grammar writing. We start by building a small grammar for the domain of food: in this grammar, you can say things like ``` this Italian cheese is delicious in English and Italian. The first English grammar [``food.cf`` food.cf] is written in a context-free notation (also known as BNF). The BNF format is often a good starting point for GF grammar development, because it is simple and widely used. However, the BNF format is not good for multilingual grammars. While it is possible to "translate" by just changing the words contained in a BNF grammar to words of some other language, proper translation usually involves more. For instance, the order of words may have to be changed: ``` Italian cheese ===> formaggio italiano The full GF grammar format is designed to support such changes, by separating between the **abstract syntax** (the logical structure) and the **concrete syntax** (the sequence of words) of expressions. There is more than words and word order that makes languages different. Words can have different forms, and which forms they have vary from language to language. For instance, Italian adjectives usually have four forms where English has just one: ``` delicious (wine, wines, pizza, pizzas) vino delizioso, vini deliziosi, pizza deliziosa, pizze deliziose ``` The **morphology** of a language describes the forms of its words. While the complete description of morphology belongs to resource grammars, this tutorial will explain the programming concepts involved in morphology. This will moreover make it possible to grow the fragment covered by the food example. The tutorial will in fact build a toy resource grammar in order to illustrate the module structure of library-based application grammar writing. Thus it is by elaborating the initial ``food.cf`` example that the tutorial makes a guided tour through all concepts of GF. While the constructs of the GF language are the main focus, also the commands of the GF system are introduced as they are needed. To learn how to write GF grammars is not the only goal of this tutorial. To learn the commands of the GF system means that simple applications of grammars, such as translation and quiz systems, can be built simply by writing scripts for the system. More complicated applications, such as natural-language interfaces and dialogue systems, also require programming in some general-purpose language. We will briefly explain how GF grammars are used as components of Haskell, Java, and Prolog grammars. The tutorial concludes with a couple of case studies showing how such complete systems can be built. %--! ===Getting the GF program=== The program is open-source free software, which you can download via the GF Homepage: [``http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~aarne/GF`` http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~aarne/GF] There you can download - binaries for Linux, Solaris, Macintosh, and Windows - source code and documentation - grammar libraries and examples If you want to compile GF from source, you need Haskell and Java compilers. But normally you don't have to compile, and you definitely don't need to know Haskell or Java to use GF. To start the GF program, assuming you have installed it, just type ``` % gf ``` in the shell. You will see GF's welcome message and the prompt ``>``. The command ``` > help ``` will give you a list of available commands. As a common convention in this Tutorial, we will use - ``%`` as a prompt that marks system commands - ``>`` as a prompt that marks GF commands Thus you should not type these prompts, but only the lines that follow them. %--! ==The .cf grammar format== Now you are ready to try out your first grammar. We start with one that is not written in GF language, but in the ubiquitous BNF notation (Backus Naur Form), which GF can also understand. Type (or copy) the following lines in a file named ``food.cf``: ``` S ::= Item "is" Quality ; Item ::= "this" Kind | "that" Kind ; Kind ::= Quality Kind ; Kind ::= "wine" | "cheese" | "fish" ; Quality ::= "very" Quality ; Quality ::= "fresh" | "warm" | "Italian" | "expensive" | "delicious" | "boring" ; ``` This grammar defines a set of phrases usable to speak about food. It builds **sentences** (``S``) by assigning ``Qualities`` to ``Item``s. The grammar shows a typical character of GF grammars: they are small grammars describing some more or less well-defined domain, such as in this case food. %--! ===Importing grammars and parsing strings=== The first GF command when using a grammar is to **import** it. The command has a long name, ``import``, and a short name, ``i``. You can type either ```> import food.cf or ```> i food.cf to get the same effect. The effect is that the GF program **compiles** your grammar into an internal representation, and shows a new prompt when it is ready. You can now use GF for **parsing**: ``` > parse "this cheese is delicious" S_Item_is_Quality (Item_this_Kind Kind_cheese) Quality_delicious > p "that wine is very very Italian" S_Item_is_Quality (Item_that_Kind Kind_wine) (Quality_very_Quality (Quality_very_Quality Quality_Italian)) ``` The ``parse`` (= ``p``) command takes a **string** (in double quotes) and returns an **abstract syntax tree** - the thing beginning with ``S_Item_Is_Quality``. We will see soon how to make sense of the abstract syntax trees - now you should just notice that the tree is different for the two strings. Strings that return a tree when parsed do so in virtue of the grammar you imported. Try parsing something else, and you fail ``` > p "hello world" No success in cf parsing hello world no tree found ``` %--! ===Generating trees and strings=== You can also use GF for **linearizing** (``linearize = l``). This is the inverse of parsing, taking trees into strings: ``` > linearize S_Item_is_Quality (Item_that_Kind Kind_wine) Quality_warm that wine is warm ``` What is the use of this? Typically not that you type in a tree at the GF prompt. The utility of linearization comes from the fact that you can obtain a tree from somewhere else. One way to do so is **random generation** (``generate_random = gr``): ``` > generate_random S_Item_is_Quality (Item_this_Kind Kind_wine) Quality_delicious ``` Now you can copy the tree and paste it to the ``linearize command``. Or, more efficiently, feed random generation into linearization by using a **pipe**. ``` > gr | l this fresh cheese is delicious ``` %--! ===Visualizing trees=== The gibberish code with parentheses returned by the parser does not look like trees. Why is it called so? Trees are a data structure that represent **nesting**: trees are branching entities, and the branches are themselves trees. Parentheses give a linear representation of trees, useful for the computer. But the human eye may prefer to see a visualization; for this purpose, GF provides the command ``visualizre_tree = vt``, to which parsing (and any other tree-producing command) can be piped: ``` parse "this delicious cheese is very Italian" | vt [Tree.png] %--! ===Some random-generated sentences=== Random generation can be quite amusing. So you may want to generate ten strings with one and the same command: ``` > gr -number=10 | l that wine is boring that fresh cheese is fresh that cheese is very boring this cheese is Italian that expensive cheese is expensive that fish is fresh that wine is very Italian this wine is Italian this cheese is boring this fish is boring ``` %--! ===Systematic generation=== To generate //all// sentence that a grammar can generate, use the command ``generate_trees = gt``. ``` > generate_trees | l that cheese is very Italian that cheese is very boring that cheese is very delicious that cheese is very expensive that cheese is very fresh ... this wine is expensive this wine is fresh this wine is warm ``` You get quite a few trees but not all of them: only up to a given **depth** of trees. To see how you can get more, use the ``help = h`` command, ``` help gt ``` **Quiz**. If the command ``gt`` generated all trees in your grammar, it would never terminate. Why? %--! ===More on pipes; tracing=== A pipe of GF commands can have any length, but the "output type" (either string or tree) of one command must always match the "input type" of the next command. The intermediate results in a pipe can be observed by putting the **tracing** flag ``-tr`` to each command whose output you want to see: ``` > gr -tr | l -tr | p S_Item_is_Quality (Item_this_Kind Kind_cheese) Quality_boring this cheese is boring S_Item_is_Quality (Item_this_Kind Kind_cheese) Quality_boring ``` This facility is good for test purposes: for instance, you may want to see if a grammar is **ambiguous**, i.e. contains strings that can be parsed in more than one way. %--! ===Writing and reading files=== To save the outputs of GF commands into a file, you can pipe it to the ``write_file = wf`` command, ``` > gr -number=10 | l | write_file exx.tmp ``` You can read the file back to GF with the ``read_file = rf`` command, ``` > read_file exx.tmp | p -lines ``` Notice the flag ``-lines`` given to the parsing command. This flag tells GF to parse each line of the file separately. Without the flag, the grammar could not recognize the string in the file, because it is not a sentence but a sequence of ten sentences. %--! ===Labelled context-free grammars=== The syntax trees returned by GF's parser in the previous examples are not so nice to look at. The identifiers that form the tree are **labels** of the BNF rules. To see which label corresponds to which rule, you can use the ``print_grammar = pg`` command with the ``printer`` flag set to ``cf`` (which means context-free): ``` > print_grammar -printer=cf S_Item_is_Quality. S ::= Item "is" Quality ; Quality_Italian. Quality ::= "Italian" ; Quality_boring. Quality ::= "boring" ; Quality_delicious. Quality ::= "delicious" ; Quality_expensive. Quality ::= "expensive" ; Quality_fresh. Quality ::= "fresh" ; Quality_very_Quality. Quality ::= "very" Quality ; Quality_warm. Quality ::= "warm" ; Kind_Quality_Kind. Kind ::= Quality Kind ; Kind_cheese. Kind ::= "cheese" ; Kind_fish. Kind ::= "fish" ; Kind_wine. Kind ::= "wine" ; Item_that_Kind. Item ::= "that" Kind ; Item_this_Kind. Item ::= "this" Kind ; ``` A syntax tree such as ``` S_Item_is_Quality (Item_this_Kind Kind_wine) Quality_delicious ``` encodes the sequence of grammar rules used for building the tree. If you look at this tree, you will notice that ``Item_this_Kind`` is the label of the rule prefixing ``this`` to a ``Kind``, thereby forming an ``Item``. ``Kind_wine`` is the label of the kind ``"wine"``, and so on. These labels are formed automatically when the grammar is compiled by GF, in a way that guarantees that different rules get different labels. %--! ===The labelled context-free format=== The **labelled context-free grammar** format permits user-defined labels to each rule. In files with the suffix ``.cf``, you can prefix rules with labels that you provide yourself - these may be more useful than the automatically generated ones. The following is a possible labelling of ``food.cf`` with nicer-looking labels. ``` Is. S ::= Item "is" Quality ; That. Item ::= "that" Kind ; This. Item ::= "this" Kind ; QKind. Kind ::= Quality Kind ; Cheese. Kind ::= "cheese" ; Fish. Kind ::= "fish" ; Wine. Kind ::= "wine" ; Italian. Quality ::= "Italian" ; Boring. Quality ::= "boring" ; Delicious. Quality ::= "delicious" ; Expensive. Quality ::= "expensive" ; Fresh. Quality ::= "fresh" ; Very. Quality ::= "very" Quality ; Warm. Quality ::= "warm" ; ``` With this grammar, the trees look as follows: ``` > parse -tr "this delicious cheese is very Italian" | vt Is (This (QKind Delicious Cheese)) (Very Italian) ``` [Tree2.png] %--! ==The .gf grammar format== To see what there is in GF's shell state when a grammar has been imported, you can give the plain command ``print_grammar = pg``. ``` > print_grammar ``` The output is quite unreadable at this stage, and you may feel happy that you did not need to write the grammar in that notation, but that the GF grammar compiler produced it. However, we will now start the demonstration how GF's own notation gives you much more expressive power than the ``.cf`` format. We will introduce the ``.gf`` format by presenting one more way of defining the same grammar as in ``food.cf``. Then we will show how the full GF grammar format enables you to do things that are not possible in the weaker formats. %--! ===Abstract and concrete syntax=== A GF grammar consists of two main parts: - **abstract syntax**, defining what syntax trees there are - **concrete syntax**, defining how trees are linearized into strings The CF format fuses these two things together, but it is possible to take them apart. For instance, the sentence formation rule ``` Is. S ::= Item "is" Quality ; ``` is interpreted as the following pair of rules: ``` fun Is : Item -> Quality -> S ; lin Is item quality = {s = item.s ++ "is" ++ quality.s} ; ``` The former rule, with the keyword ``fun``, belongs to the abstract syntax. It defines the **function** ``Is`` which constructs syntax trees of form (``Is`` //item// //quality//). The latter rule, with the keyword ``lin``, belongs to the concrete syntax. It defines the **linearization function** for syntax trees of form (``Is`` //item// //quality//). %--! ===Judgement forms=== Rules in a GF grammar are called **judgements**, and the keywords ``fun`` and ``lin`` are used for distinguishing between two **judgement forms**. Here is a summary of the most important judgement forms: - abstract syntax | form | reading | | ``cat`` C | C is a category | ``fun`` f ``:`` A | f is a function of type A - concrete syntax | form | reading | | ``lincat`` C ``=`` T | category C has linearization type T | ``lin`` f ``=`` t | function f has linearization t We return to the precise meanings of these judgement forms later. First we will look at how judgements are grouped into modules, and show how the food grammar is expressed by using modules and judgements. %--! ===Module types=== A GF grammar consists of **modules**, into which judgements are grouped. The most important module forms are - ``abstract`` A ``=`` M, abstract syntax A with judgements in the module body M. - ``concrete`` C ``of`` A ``=`` M, concrete syntax C of the abstract syntax A, with judgements in the module body M. %--! ===Record types, records, and ``Str``s=== The linearization type of a category is a **record type**, with zero of more **fields** of different types. The simplest record type used for linearization in GF is ``` {s : Str} ``` which has one field, with **label** ``s`` and type ``Str``. Examples of records of this type are ``` {s = "foo"} {s = "hello" ++ "world"} ``` Whenever a record ``r`` of type ``{s : Str}`` is given, ``r.s`` is an object of type ``Str``. This is a special case of the **projection** rule, allowing the extraction of fields from a record: - if //r// : ``{`` ... //p// : //T// ... ``}`` then //r.p// : //T// The type ``Str`` is really the type of **token lists**, but most of the time one can conveniently think of it as the type of strings, denoted by string literals in double quotes. Notice that ``` "hello world" is not recommended as an expression of type ``Str``. It denotes a token with a space in it, and will usually not work with the lexical analysis that precedes parsing. A shorthand exemplified by ``` ["hello world and people"] === "hello" ++ "world" ++ "and" ++ "people" can be used for lists of tokens. The expression ``` [] denotes the empty token list. %--! ===An abstract syntax example=== To express the abstract syntax of ``food.cf`` in a file ``Food.gf``, we write two kinds of judgements: - Each category is introduced by a ``cat`` judgement. - Each rule label is introduced by a ``fun`` judgement, with the type formed from the nonterminals of the rule. ``` abstract Food = { cat S ; Item ; Kind ; Quality ; fun Is : Item -> Quality -> S ; This, That : Kind -> Item ; QKind : Quality -> Kind -> Kind ; Wine, Cheese, Fish : Kind ; Very : Quality -> Quality ; Fresh, Warm, Italian, Expensive, Delicious, Boring : Quality ; } ``` Notice the use of shorthands permitting the sharing of the keyword in subsequent judgements, and of the type in subsequent ``fun`` judgements. %--! ===A concrete syntax example=== Each category introduced in ``Food.gf`` is given a ``lincat`` rule, and each function is given a ``lin`` rule. Similar shorthands apply as in ``abstract`` modules. ``` concrete FoodEng of Food = { lincat S, Item, Kind, Quality = {s : Str} ; lin Is item quality = {s = item.s ++ "is" ++ quality.s} ; This kind = {s = "this" ++ kind.s} ; That kind = {s = "that" ++ kind.s} ; QKind quality kind = {s = quality.s ++ kind.s} ; Wine = {s = "wine"} ; Cheese = {s = "cheese"} ; Fish = {s = "fish"} ; Very quality = {s = "very" ++ quality.s} ; Fresh = {s = "fresh"} ; Warm = {s = "warm"} ; Italian = {s = "Italian"} ; Expensive = {s = "expensive"} ; Delicious = {s = "delicious"} ; Boring = {s = "boring"} ; } ``` %--! ===Modules and files=== Module name + ``.gf`` = file name Each module is compiled into a ``.gfc`` file. Import ``FoodEng.gf`` and see what happens ``` > i FoodEng.gf ``` The GF program does not only read the file ``FoodEng.gf``, but also all other files that it depends on - in this case, ``Food.gf``. For each file that is compiled, a ``.gfc`` file is generated. The GFC format (="GF Canonical") is the "machine code" of GF, which is faster to process than GF source files. When reading a module, GF decides whether to use an existing ``.gfc`` file or to generate a new one, by looking at modification times. %--! ==Multilingual grammars and translation== The main advantage of separating abstract from concrete syntax is that one abstract syntax can be equipped with many concrete syntaxes. A system with this property is called a **multilingual grammar**. Multilingual grammars can be used for applications such as translation. Let us build an Italian concrete syntax for ``Food`` and then test the resulting multilingual grammar. %--! ===An Italian concrete syntax=== ``` concrete FoodIta of Food = { lincat S, Item, Kind, Quality = {s : Str} ; lin Is item quality = {s = item.s ++ "è" ++ quality.s} ; This kind = {s = "questo" ++ kind.s} ; That kind = {s = "quello" ++ kind.s} ; QKind quality kind = {s = kind.s ++ quality.s} ; Wine = {s = "vino"} ; Cheese = {s = "formaggio"} ; Fish = {s = "pesce"} ; Very quality = {s = "molto" ++ quality.s} ; Fresh = {s = "fresco"} ; Warm = {s = "caldo"} ; Italian = {s = "italiano"} ; Expensive = {s = "caro"} ; Delicious = {s = "delizioso"} ; Boring = {s = "noioso"} ; } ``` %--! ===Using a multilingual grammar=== Import the two grammars in the same GF session. ``` > i FoodEng.gf > i FoodIta.gf ``` Try generation now: ``` > gr | l quello formaggio molto noioso è italiano > gr | l -lang=FoodEng this fish is warm ``` Translate by using a pipe: ``` > p -lang=FoodEng "this cheese is very delicious" | l -lang=FoodIta questo formaggio è molto delizioso ``` The ``lang`` flag tells GF which concrete syntax to use in parsing and linearization. By default, the flag is set to the last-imported grammar. To see what grammars are in scope and which is the main one, use the command ``print_options = po``: ``` > print_options main abstract : Food main concrete : FoodIta actual concretes : FoodIta FoodEng ``` %--! ===Translation session=== If translation is what you want to do with a set of grammars, a convenient way to do it is to open a ``translation_session = ts``. In this session, you can translate between all the languages that are in scope. A dot ``.`` terminates the translation session. ``` > ts trans> that very warm cheese is boring quello formaggio molto caldo è noioso that very warm cheese is boring trans> questo vino molto italiano è molto delizioso questo vino molto italiano è molto delizioso this very Italian wine is very delicious trans> . > ``` %--! ===Translation quiz=== This is a simple language exercise that can be automatically generated from a multilingual grammar. The system generates a set of random sentences, displays them in one language, and checks the user's answer given in another language. The command ``translation_quiz = tq`` makes this in a subshell of GF. ``` > translation_quiz FoodEng FoodIta Welcome to GF Translation Quiz. The quiz is over when you have done at least 10 examples with at least 75 % success. You can interrupt the quiz by entering a line consisting of a dot ('.'). this fish is warm questo pesce è caldo > Yes. Score 1/1 this cheese is Italian questo formaggio è noioso > No, not questo formaggio è noioso, but questo formaggio è italiano Score 1/2 this fish is expensive ``` You can also generate a list of translation exercises and save it in a file for later use, by the command ``translation_list = tl`` ``` > translation_list -number=25 FoodEng FoodIta ``` The ``number`` flag gives the number of sentences generated. %--! ==Grammar architecture== ===Extending a grammar=== The module system of GF makes it possible to **extend** a grammar in different ways. The syntax of extension is shown by the following example. We extend ``Food`` by adding a category of questions and two new functions. ``` abstract Morefood = Food ** { cat Question ; fun QIs : Item -> Quality -> Question ; Pizza : Kind ; } ``` Parallel to the abstract syntax, extensions can be built for concrete syntaxes: ``` concrete MorefoodEng of Morefood = FoodEng ** { lincat Question = {s : Str} ; lin QIs item quality = {s = "is" ++ item.s ++ quality.s} ; Pizza = {s = "pizza"} ; } ``` The effect of extension is that all of the contents of the extended and extending module are put together. %--! ===Multiple inheritance=== Specialized vocabularies can be represented as small grammars that only do "one thing" each. For instance, the following are grammars for fruit and mushrooms ``` abstract Fruit = { cat Fruit ; fun Apple, Peach : Fruit ; } abstract Mushroom = { cat Mushroom ; fun Cep, Agaric : Mushroom ; } ``` They can afterwards be combined into bigger grammars by using **multiple inheritance**, i.e. extension of several grammars at the same time: ``` abstract Foodmarket = Food, Fruit, Mushroom ** { fun FruitKind : Fruit -> Kind ; MushroomKind : Mushroom -> Kind ; } ``` At this point, you would perhaps like to go back to ``Food`` and take apart ``Wine`` to build a special ``Drink`` module. %--! ===Visualizing module structure=== When you have created all the abstract syntaxes and one set of concrete syntaxes needed for ``Foodmarket``, your grammar consists of eight GF modules. To see how their dependences look like, you can use the command ``visualize_graph = vg``, ``` > visualize_graph ``` and the graph will pop up in a separate window. The graph uses - oval boxes for abstract modules - square boxes for concrete modules - black-headed arrows for inheritance - white-headed arrows for the concrete-of-abstract relation [Foodmarket.png] %--! ==System commands== To document your grammar, you may want to print the graph into a file, e.g. a ``.png`` file that can be included in an HTML document. You can do this by first printing the graph into a file ``.dot`` and then processing this file with the ``dot`` program. ``` > pm -printer=graph | wf Foodmarket.dot > ! dot -Tpng Foodmarket.dot > Foodmarket.png ``` The latter command is a Unix command, issued from GF by using the shell escape symbol ``!``. The resulting graph was shown in the previous section. The command ``print_multi = pm`` is used for printing the current multilingual grammar in various formats, of which the format ``-printer=graph`` just shows the module dependencies. Use ``help`` to see what other formats are available: ``` > help pm > help -printer ``` %--! ==Resource modules== ===The golden rule of functional programming=== In comparison to the ``.cf`` format, the ``.gf`` format looks rather verbose, and demands lots more characters to be written. You have probably done this by the copy-paste-modify method, which is a common way to avoid repeating work. However, there is a more elegant way to avoid repeating work than the copy-and-paste method. The **golden rule of functional programming** says that - whenever you find yourself programming by copy-and-paste, write a function instead. A function separates the shared parts of different computations from the changing parts, parameters. In functional programming languages, such as [Haskell http://www.haskell.org], it is possible to share much more than in languages such as C and Java. ===Operation definitions=== GF is a functional programming language, not only in the sense that the abstract syntax is a system of functions (``fun``), but also because functional programming can be used to define concrete syntax. This is done by using a new form of judgement, with the keyword ``oper`` (for **operation**), distinct from ``fun`` for the sake of clarity. Here is a simple example of an operation: ``` oper ss : Str -> {s : Str} = \x -> {s = x} ; ``` The operation can be **applied** to an argument, and GF will **compute** the application into a value. For instance, ``` ss "boy" ---> {s = "boy"} ``` (We use the symbol ``--->`` to indicate how an expression is computed into a value; this symbol is not a part of GF) Thus an ``oper`` judgement includes the name of the defined operation, its type, and an expression defining it. As for the syntax of the defining expression, notice the **lambda abstraction** form ``\x -> t`` of the function. %--! ===The ``resource`` module type=== Operator definitions can be included in a concrete syntax. But they are not really tied to a particular set of linearization rules. They should rather be seen as **resources** usable in many concrete syntaxes. The ``resource`` module type can be used to package ``oper`` definitions into reusable resources. Here is an example, with a handful of operations to manipulate strings and records. ``` resource StringOper = { oper SS : Type = {s : Str} ; ss : Str -> SS = \x -> {s = x} ; cc : SS -> SS -> SS = \x,y -> ss (x.s ++ y.s) ; prefix : Str -> SS -> SS = \p,x -> ss (p ++ x.s) ; } ``` Resource modules can extend other resource modules, in the same way as modules of other types can extend modules of the same type. Thus it is possible to build resource hierarchies. %--! ===Opening a ``resource``=== Any number of ``resource`` modules can be **opened** in a ``concrete`` syntax, which makes definitions contained in the resource usable in the concrete syntax. Here is an example, where the resource ``StringOper`` is opened in a new version of ``FoodEng``. ``` concrete Food2Eng of Food = open StringOper in { lincat S, Item, Kind, Quality = SS ; lin Is item quality = cc item (prefix "is" quality) ; This = prefix "this" ; That = prefix "that" ; QKind = cc ; Wine = ss "wine" ; Cheese = ss "cheese" ; Fish = ss "fish" ; Very = prefix "very" ; Fresh = ss "fresh" ; Warm = ss "warm" ; Italian = ss "Italian" ; Expensive = ss "expensive" ; Delicious = ss "delicious" ; Boring = ss "boring" ; } ``` The same string operations could be use to write ``FoodIta`` more concisely. %--! ===Division of labour=== Using operations defined in resource modules is a way to avoid repetitive code. In addition, it enables a new kind of modularity and division of labour in grammar writing: grammarians familiar with the linguistic details of a language can put this knowledge available through resource grammar modules, whose users only need to pick the right operations and not to know their implementation details. %--! ==Morphology== Suppose we want to say, with the vocabulary included in ``Food.gf``, things like ``` all Italian wines are delicious ``` The new grammatical facility we need are the plural forms of nouns and verbs (//wines, are//), as opposed to their singular forms. The introduction of plural forms requires two things: - to **inflect** nouns and verbs in singular and plural number - to describe the **agreement** of the verb to subject: the rule that the verb must have the same number as the subject Different languages have different rules of inflection and agreement. For instance, Italian has also agreement in gender (masculine vs. feminine). We want to express such special features of languages in the concrete syntax while ignoring them in the abstract syntax. To be able to do all this, we need one new judgement form and many new expression forms. We also need to generalize linearization types from strings to more complex types. %--! ===Parameters and tables=== We define the **parameter type** of number in Englisn by using a new form of judgement: ``` param Number = Sg | Pl ; ``` To express that ``Kind`` expressions in English have a linearization depending on number, we replace the linearization type ``{s : Str}`` with a type where the ``s`` field is a **table** depending on number: ``` lincat Kind = {s : Number => Str} ; ``` The **table type** ``Number => Str`` is in many respects similar to a function type (``Number -> Str``). The main difference is that the argument type of a table type must always be a parameter type. This means that the argument-value pairs can be listed in a finite table. The following example shows such a table: ``` lin Cheese = {s = table { Sg => "cheese" ; Pl => "cheeses" } } ; ``` The application of a table to a parameter is done by the **selection** operator ``!``. For instance, ``` table {Sg => "cheese" ; Pl => "cheeses"} ! Pl ``` is a selection, whose value is ``"cheeses"``. %--! ===Inflection tables, paradigms, and ``oper`` definitions=== All English common nouns are inflected in number, most of them in the same way: the plural form is formed from the singular form by adding the ending //s//. This rule is an example of a **paradigm** - a formula telling how the inflection forms of a word are formed. From GF point of view, a paradigm is a function that takes a **lemma** - also known as a **dictionary form** - and returns an inflection table of desired type. Paradigms are not functions in the sense of the ``fun`` judgements of abstract syntax (which operate on trees and not on strings), but operations defined in ``oper`` judgements. The following operation defines the regular noun paradigm of English: ``` oper regNoun : Str -> {s : Number => Str} = \x -> { s = table { Sg => x ; Pl => x + "s" } } ; ``` The **gluing** operator ``+`` tells that the string held in the variable ``x`` and the ending ``"s"`` are written together to form one **token**. Thus, for instance, ``` (regNoun "cheese").s ! Pl ---> "cheese" + "s" ---> "cheeses" ``` %--! ===Worst-case functions and data abstraction=== Some English nouns, such as ``mouse``, are so irregular that it makes no sense to see them as instances of a paradigm. Even then, it is useful to perform **data abstraction** from the definition of the type ``Noun``, and introduce a constructor operation, a **worst-case function** for nouns: ``` oper mkNoun : Str -> Str -> Noun = \x,y -> { s = table { Sg => x ; Pl => y } } ; ``` Thus we could define ``` lin Mouse = mkNoun "mouse" "mice" ; ``` and ``` oper regNoun : Str -> Noun = \x -> mkNoun x (x + "s") ; ``` instead of writing the inflection table explicitly. The grammar engineering advantage of worst-case functions is that the author of the resource module may change the definitions of ``Noun`` and ``mkNoun``, and still retain the interface (i.e. the system of type signatures) that makes it correct to use these functions in concrete modules. In programming terms, ``Noun`` is then treated as an **abstract datatype**. %--! ===A system of paradigms using Prelude operations=== In addition to the completely regular noun paradigm ``regNoun``, some other frequent noun paradigms deserve to be defined, for instance, ``` sNoun : Str -> Noun = \kiss -> mkNoun kiss (kiss + "es") ; ``` What about nouns like //fly//, with the plural //flies//? The already available solution is to use the longest common prefix //fl// (also known as the **technical stem**) as argument, and define ``` yNoun : Str -> Noun = \fl -> mkNoun (fl + "y") (fl + "ies") ; ``` But this paradigm would be very unintuitive to use, because the technical stem is not an existing form of the word. A better solution is to use the lemma and a string operator ``init``, which returns the initial segment (i.e. all characters but the last) of a string: ``` yNoun : Str -> Noun = \fly -> mkNoun fly (init fly + "ies") ; ``` The operator ``init`` belongs to a set of operations in the resource module ``Prelude``, which therefore has to be ``open``ed so that ``init`` can be used. %--! ===An intelligent noun paradigm using ``case`` expressions=== It may be hard for the user of a resource morphology to pick the right inflection paradigm. A way to help this is to define a more intelligent paradigm, which chooses the ending by first analysing the lemma. The following variant for English regular nouns puts together all the previously shown paradigms, and chooses one of them on the basis of the final letter of the lemma (found by the prelude operator ``last``). ``` regNoun : Str -> Noun = \s -> case last s of { "s" | "z" => mkNoun s (s + "es") ; "y" => mkNoun s (init s + "ies") ; _ => mkNoun s (s + "s") } ; ``` This definition displays many GF expression forms not shown befores; these forms are explained in the next section. The paradigms ``regNoun`` does not give the correct forms for all nouns. For instance, //mouse - mice// and //fish - fish// must be given by using ``mkNoun``. Also the word //boy// would be inflected incorrectly; to prevent this, either use ``mkNoun`` or modify ``regNoun`` so that the ``"y"`` case does not apply if the second-last character is a vowel. %--! ===Pattern matching=== Expressions of the ``table`` form are built from lists of argument-value pairs. These pairs are called the **branches** of the table. In addition to constants introduced in ``param`` definitions, the left-hand side of a branch can more generally be a **pattern**, and the computation of selection is then performed by **pattern matching**: - a variable pattern (identifier other than constant parameter) matches anything - the wild card ``_`` matches anything - a string literal pattern, e.g. ``"s"``, matches the same string - a disjunctive pattern ``P | ... | Q`` matches anything that one of the disjuncts matches Pattern matching is performed in the order in which the branches appear in the table: the branch of the first matching pattern is followed. As syntactic sugar, one-branch tables can be written concisely, ``` \\P,...,Q => t === table {P => ... table {Q => t} ...} ``` Finally, the ``case`` expressions common in functional programming languages are syntactic sugar for table selections: ``` case e of {...} === table {...} ! e ``` %--! ===Morphological ``resource`` modules=== A common idiom is to gather the ``oper`` and ``param`` definitions needed for inflecting words in a language into a morphology module. Here is a simple example, [``MorphoEng`` resource/MorphoEng.gf]. ``` --# -path=.:prelude resource MorphoEng = open Prelude in { param Number = Sg | Pl ; oper Noun, Verb : Type = {s : Number => Str} ; mkNoun : Str -> Str -> Noun = \x,y -> { s = table { Sg => x ; Pl => y } } ; regNoun : Str -> Noun = \s -> case last s of { "s" | "z" => mkNoun s (s + "es") ; "y" => mkNoun s (init s + "ies") ; _ => mkNoun s (s + "s") } ; mkVerb : Str -> Str -> Verb = \x,y -> mkNoun y x ; regVerb : Str -> Verb = \s -> case last s of { "s" | "z" => mkVerb s (s + "es") ; "y" => mkVerb s (init s + "ies") ; "o" => mkVerb s (s + "es") ; _ => mkVerb s (s + "s") } ; } ``` The first line gives as a hint to the compiler the **search path** needed to find all the other modules that the module depends on. The directory ``prelude`` is a subdirectory of ``GF/lib``; to be able to refer to it in this simple way, you can set the environment variable ``GF_LIB_PATH`` to point to this directory. %--! ===Testing ``resource`` modules=== To test a ``resource`` module independently, you can import it with a flag that tells GF to retain the ``oper`` definitions in the memory; the usual behaviour is that ``oper`` definitions are just applied to compile linearization rules (this is called **inlining**) and then thrown away. ``` > i -retain MorphoEng.gf The command ``compute_concrete = cc`` computes any expression formed by operations and other GF constructs. For example, ``` > cc regVerb "echo" {s : Number => Str = table Number { Sg => "echoes" ; Pl => "echo" } } ``` The command ``show_operations = so``` shows the type signatures of all operations returning a given value type: ``` > so Verb MorphoEng.mkNoun : Str -> Str -> {s : {MorphoEng.Number} => Str} MorphoEng.mkVerb : Str -> Str -> {s : {MorphoEng.Number} => Str} MorphoEng.regNoun : Str -> {s : {MorphoEng.Number} => Str} MorphoEng.regVerb : Str -> { s : {MorphoEng.Number} => Str} ``` Why does the command also show the operations that form ``Noun``s? The reason is that the type expression ``Verb`` is first computed, and its value happens to be the same as the value of ``Noun``. ==Using morphology in concrete syntax== We can now enrich the concrete syntax definitions to comprise morphology. This will involve a more radical variation between languages (e.g. English and Italian) then just the use of different words. In general, parameters and linearization types are different in different languages - but this does not prevent the use of a common abstract syntax. %--! ===Parametric vs. inherent features, agreement=== The rule of subject-verb agreement in English says that the verb phrase must be inflected in the number of the subject. This means that a noun phrase (functioning as a subject), inherently //has// a number, which it passes to the verb. The verb does not //have// a number, but must be able to //receive// whatever number the subject has. This distinction is nicely represented by the different linearization types of **noun phrases** and **verb phrases**: ``` lincat NP = {s : Str ; n : Number} ; lincat VP = {s : Number => Str} ; ``` We say that the number of ``NP`` is an **inherent feature**, whereas the number of ``NP`` is a **variable feature** (or a **parametric feature**). The agreement rule itself is expressed in the linearization rule of the predication structure: ``` lin PredVP np vp = {s = np.s ++ vp.s ! np.n} ; ``` The following section will present ``FoodsEng``, assuming the abstract syntax ``Foods`` that is similar to ``Food`` but also has the plural determiners ``These`` and ``Those``. The reader is invited to inspect the way in which agreement works in the formation of sentences. %--! ===English concrete syntax with parameters=== The grammar uses both [``Prelude`` ../../lib/prelude/Prelude.gf] and [``MorphoEng`` resource/MorphoEng]. We will later see how to make the grammar even more high-level by using a resource grammar library and parametrized modules. ``` --# -path=.:resource:prelude concrete FoodsEng of Foods = open Prelude, MorphoEng in { lincat S, Quality = SS ; Kind = {s : Number => Str} ; Item = {s : Str ; n : Number} ; lin Is item quality = ss (item.s ++ (mkVerb "are" "is").s ! item.n ++ quality.s) ; This = det Sg "this" ; That = det Sg "that" ; These = det Pl "these" ; Those = det Pl "those" ; QKind quality kind = {s = \\n => quality.s ++ kind.s ! n} ; Wine = regNoun "wine" ; Cheese = regNoun "cheese" ; Fish = mkNoun "fish" "fish" ; Very = prefixSS "very" ; Fresh = ss "fresh" ; Warm = ss "warm" ; Italian = ss "Italian" ; Expensive = ss "expensive" ; Delicious = ss "delicious" ; Boring = ss "boring" ; oper det : Number -> Str -> Noun -> {s : Str ; n : Number} = \n,d,cn -> { s = d ++ cn.s ! n ; n = n } ; } ``` %--! ===Hierarchic parameter types=== The reader familiar with a functional programming language such as [Haskell http://www.haskell.org] must have noticed the similarity between parameter types in GF and **algebraic datatypes** (``data`` definitions in Haskell). The GF parameter types are actually a special case of algebraic datatypes: the main restriction is that in GF, these types must be finite. (It is this restriction that makes it possible to invert linearization rules into parsing methods.) However, finite is not the same thing as enumerated. Even in GF, parameter constructors can take arguments, provided these arguments are from other parameter types - only recursion is forbidden. Such parameter types impose a hierarchic order among parameters. They are often needed to define the linguistically most accurate parameter systems. To give an example, Swedish adjectives are inflected in number (singular or plural) and gender (uter or neuter). These parameters would suggest 2*2=4 different forms. However, the gender distinction is done only in the singular. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to define adjective paradigms using the type ``Gender => Number => Str``. The following hierarchic definition yields an accurate system of three adjectival forms. ``` param AdjForm = ASg Gender | APl ; param Gender = Utr | Neutr ; ``` Here is an example of pattern matching, the paradigm of regular adjectives. ``` oper regAdj : Str -> AdjForm => Str = \fin -> table { ASg Utr => fin ; ASg Neutr => fin + "t" ; APl => fin + "a" ; } ``` A constructor can be used as a pattern that has patterns as arguments. For instance, the adjectival paradigm in which the two singular forms are the same, can be defined ``` oper plattAdj : Str -> AdjForm => Str = \platt -> table { ASg _ => platt ; APl => platt + "a" ; } ``` %--! ===Morphological analysis and morphology quiz=== Even though morphology is in GF mostly used as an auxiliary for syntax, it can also be useful on its own right. The command ``morpho_analyse = ma`` can be used to read a text and return for each word the analyses that it has in the current concrete syntax. ``` > rf bible.txt | morpho_analyse ``` In the same way as translation exercises, morphological exercises can be generated, by the command ``morpho_quiz = mq``. Usually, the category is set to be something else than ``S``. For instance, ``` > i lib/resource/french/VerbsFre.gf > morpho_quiz -cat=V Welcome to GF Morphology Quiz. ... réapparaître : VFin VCondit Pl P2 réapparaitriez > No, not réapparaitriez, but réapparaîtriez Score 0/1 ``` Finally, a list of morphological exercises can be generated off-line saved in a file for later use, by the command ``morpho_list = ml`` ``` > morpho_list -number=25 -cat=V | wf exx.txt ``` The ``number`` flag gives the number of exercises generated. %--! ===Discontinuous constituents=== A linearization type may contain more strings than one. An example of where this is useful are English particle verbs, such as //switch off//. The linearization of a sentence may place the object between the verb and the particle: //he switched it off//. The following judgement defines transitive verbs as **discontinuous constituents**, i.e. as having a linearization type with two strings and not just one. ``` lincat TV = {s : Number => Str ; part : Str} ; ``` This linearization rule shows how the constituents are separated by the object in complementization. ``` lin PredTV tv obj = {s = \\n => tv.s ! n ++ obj.s ++ tv.part} ; ``` There is no restriction in the number of discontinuous constituents (or other fields) a ``lincat`` may contain. The only condition is that the fields must be of finite types, i.e. built from records, tables, parameters, and ``Str``, and not functions. A mathematical result about parsing in GF says that the worst-case complexity of parsing increases with the number of discontinuous constituents. This is potentially a reason to avoid discontinuous constituents. Moreover, the parsing and linearization commands only give accurate results for categories whose linearization type has a unique ``Str`` valued field labelled ``s``. Therefore, discontinuous constituents are not a good idea in top-level categories accessed by the users of a grammar application. %--! ==More constructs for concrete syntax== %--! ===Local definitions=== Local definitions ("``let`` expressions") are used in functional programming for two reasons: to structure the code into smaller expressions, and to avoid repeated computation of one and the same expression. Here is an example, from [``MorphoIta resource/MorphoIta.gf]: ``` oper regNoun : Str -> Noun = \vino -> let vin = init vino ; o = last vino in case o of { "a" => mkNoun Fem vino (vin + "e") ; "o" | "e" => mkNoun Masc vino (vin + "i") ; _ => mkNoun Masc vino vino } ; ``` %--! ===Free variation=== Sometimes there are many alternative ways to define a concrete syntax. For instance, the verb negation in English can be expressed both by //does not// and //doesn't//. In linguistic terms, these expressions are in **free variation**. The ``variants`` construct of GF can be used to give a list of strings in free variation. For example, ``` NegVerb verb = {s = variants {["does not"] ; "doesn't} ++ verb.s ! Pl} ; ``` An empty variant list ``` variants {} ``` can be used e.g. if a word lacks a certain form. In general, ``variants`` should be used cautiously. It is not recommended for modules aimed to be libraries, because the user of the library has no way to choose among the variants. Moreover, ``variants`` is only defined for basic types (``Str`` and parameter types). The grammar compiler will admit ``variants`` for any types, but it will push it to the level of basic types in a way that may be unwanted. For instance, German has two words meaning "car", //Wagen//, which is Masculine, and //Auto//, which is Neuter. However, if one writes ``` variants {{s = "Wagen" ; g = Masc} ; {s = "Auto" ; g = Neutr}} ``` this will compute to ``` {s = variants {"Wagen" ; "Auto"} ; g = variants {Masc ; Neutr}} ``` which will also accept erroneous combinations of strings and genders. ===Record extension and subtyping=== Record types and records can be **extended** with new fields. For instance, in German it is natural to see transitive verbs as verbs with a case. The symbol ``**`` is used for both constructs. ``` lincat TV = Verb ** {c : Case} ; lin Follow = regVerb "folgen" ** {c = Dative} ; ``` To extend a record type or a record with a field whose label it already has is a type error. A record type //T// is a **subtype** of another one //R//, if //T// has all the fields of //R// and possibly other fields. For instance, an extension of a record type is always a subtype of it. If //T// is a subtype of //R//, an object of //T// can be used whenever an object of //R// is required. For instance, a transitive verb can be used whenever a verb is required. **Contravariance** means that a function taking an //R// as argument can also be applied to any object of a subtype //T//. ===Tuples and product types=== Product types and tuples are syntactic sugar for record types and records: ``` T1 * ... * Tn === {p1 : T1 ; ... ; pn : Tn} === {p1 = T1 ; ... ; pn = Tn} ``` Thus the labels ``p1, p2,...``` are hard-coded. ===Record and tuple patterns=== Record types of parameter types are also parameter types. A typical example is a record of agreement features, e.g. French ``` oper Agr : PType = {g : Gender ; n : Number ; p : Person} ; ``` Notice the term ``PType`` rather than just ``Type`` referring to parameter types. Every ``PType`` is also a ``Type``. Pattern matching is done in the expected way, but it can moreover utilize partial records: the branch ``` {g = Fem} => t ``` in a table of type ``Agr => T`` means the same as ``` {g = Fem ; n = _ ; p = _} => t ``` Tuple patterns are translated to record patterns in the same way as tuples to records; partial patterns make it possible to write, slightly surprisingly, ``` case of { => t ... } ``` %--! ===Regular expression patterns=== To define string operations computed at compile time, such as in morphology, it is handy to use regular expression patterns: - //p// ``+`` //q// : token consisting of //p// followed by //q// - //p// ``*`` : token //p// repeated 0 or more times (max the length of the string to be matched) - ``-`` //p// : matches anything that //p// does not match - //x// ``@`` //p// : bind to //x// what //p// matches - //p// ``|`` //q// : matches what either //p// or //q// matches The last three apply to all types of patterns, the first two only to token strings. Example: plural formation in Swedish 2nd declension (//pojke-pojkar, nyckel-nycklar, seger-segrar, bil-bilar//): ``` plural2 : Str -> Str = \w -> case w of { pojk + "e" => pojk + "ar" ; nyck + "e" + l@("l" | "r" | "n") => nyck + l + "ar" ; bil => bil + "ar" } ; ``` Another example: English noun plural formation. ``` plural : Str -> Str = \w -> case w of { _ + ("s" | "z" | "x" | "sh") => w + "es" ; _ + ("a" | "o" | "u" | "e") + "y" => w + "s" ; x + "y" => x + "ies" ; _ => w + "s" } ; ``` Semantics: variables are always bound to the **first match**, which is the first in the sequence of binding lists ``Match p v`` defined as follows. In the definition, ``p`` is a pattern and ``v`` is a value. ``` Match (p1|p2) v = Match p1 v ++ Match p2 v Match (p1+p2) s = [Match p1 s1 ++ Match p2 s2 | i <- [0..length s], (s1,s2) = splitAt i s] Match p* s = [[]] if Match "" s ++ Match p s ++ Match (p+p) s ++... /= [] Match -p v = [[]] if Match p v = [] Match c v = [[]] if c == v -- for constant and literal patterns c Match x v = [[(x,v)]] -- for variable patterns x Match x@p v = [[(x,v)]] + M if M = Match p v /= [] Match p v = [] otherwise -- failure ``` Examples: - ``x + "e" + y`` matches ``"peter"`` with ``x = "p", y = "ter"`` - ``x + "er"*`` matches ``"burgerer"`` with ``x = "burg" %--! ===Prefix-dependent choices=== Sometimes a token has different forms depending on the token that follows. An example is the English indefinite article, which is //an// if a vowel follows, //a// otherwise. Which form is chosen can only be decided at run time, i.e. when a string is actually build. GF has a special construct for such tokens, the ``pre`` construct exemplified in ``` oper artIndef : Str = pre {"a" ; "an" / strs {"a" ; "e" ; "i" ; "o"}} ; ``` Thus ``` artIndef ++ "cheese" ---> "a" ++ "cheese" artIndef ++ "apple" ---> "an" ++ "cheese" ``` This very example does not work in all situations: the prefix //u// has no general rules, and some problematic words are //euphemism, one-eyed, n-gram//. It is possible to write ``` oper artIndef : Str = pre {"a" ; "a" / strs {"eu" ; "one"} ; "an" / strs {"a" ; "e" ; "i" ; "o" ; "n-"} } ; ``` ===Predefined types and operations=== GF has the following predefined categories in abstract syntax: ``` cat Int ; -- integers, e.g. 0, 5, 743145151019 cat Float ; -- floats, e.g. 0.0, 3.1415926 cat String ; -- strings, e.g. "", "foo", "123" ``` The objects of each of these categories are **literals** as indicated in the comments above. No ``fun`` definition can have a predefined category as its value type, but they can be used as arguments. For example: ``` fun StreetAddress : Int -> String -> Address ; lin StreetAddress number street = {s = number.s ++ street.s} ; -- e.g. (StreetAddress 10 "Downing Street") : Address ``` The linearization type is ``{s : Str}`` for all these categories. ==More concepts of abstract syntax== ===GF as a logical framework=== In this section, we will show how to encode advanced semantic concepts in an abstract syntax. We use concepts inherited from **type theory**. Type theory is the basis of many systems known as **logical frameworks**, which are used for representing mathematical theorems and their proofs on a computer. In fact, GF has a logical framework as its proper part: this part is the abstract syntax. In a logical framework, the formalization of a mathematical theory is a set of type and function declarations. The following is an example of such a theory, represented as an ``abstract`` module in GF. ``` abstract Geometry = { cat Line ; Point ; Circle ; -- basic types of figures Prop ; -- proposition fun Parallel : Line -> Line -> Prop ; -- x is parallel to y Centre : Circle -> Point ; -- the centre of c } ``` ===Dependent types=== ===Higher-order abstract syntax=== ===Semantic definitions=== ===List categories=== %--! ==More features of the module system== ===Interfaces, instances, and functors=== ===Resource grammars and their reuse=== A resource grammar is a grammar built on linguistic grounds, to describe a language rather than a domain. The GF resource grammar library, which contains resource grammars for 10 languages, is described more closely in the following documents: - [Resource library API documentation ../../lib/resource-1.0/doc/]: for application grammarians using the resource. - [Resource writing HOWTO ../../lib/resource-1.0/doc/Resource-HOWTO.html]: for resource grammarians developing the resource. However, to give a flavour of both using and writing resource grammars, we have created a miniature resource, which resides in the subdirectory [``resource`` resource]. Its API consists of the following three modules: [Syntax resource/Syntax.gf] - syntactic structures, language-independent: ``` ``` [LexEng resource/LexEng.gf] - lexical paradigms, English: ``` ``` [LexIta resource/LexIta.gf] - lexical paradigms, Italian: ``` ``` Only these three modules should be ``open``ed in applications. The implementations of the resource are given in the following four modules: [MorphoEng resource/MorphoEng.gf], ``` ``` [MorphoIta resource/MorphoIta.gf]: low-level morphology - [SyntaxEng resource/SyntaxEng.gf]. [SyntaxIta resource/SyntaxIta.gf]: definitions of syntactic structures An example use of the resource resides in the subdirectory [``applications`` applications]. It implements the abstract syntax [``FoodComments`` applications/FoodComments.gf] for English and Italian. The following diagram shows the module structure, indicating by colours which modules are written by the grammarian. The two blue modules form the abstract syntax. The three red modules form the concrete syntax. The two green modules are trivial instantiations of a functor. The rest of the modules (black) come from the resource. [Multi.png] ===Restricted inheritance and qualified opening=== ==Using the standard resource library== The example files of this chapter can be found in the directory [``arithm`` ./arithm]. ===The simplest way=== The simplest way is to ``open`` a top-level ``Lang`` module and a ``Paradigms`` module: ``` abstract Foo = ... concrete FooEng = open LangEng, ParadigmsEng in ... concrete FooSwe = open LangSwe, ParadigmsSwe in ... ``` Here is an example. ``` abstract Arithm = { cat Prop ; Nat ; fun Zero : Nat ; Succ : Nat -> Nat ; Even : Nat -> Prop ; And : Prop -> Prop -> Prop ; } --# -path=.:alltenses:prelude concrete ArithmEng of Arithm = open LangEng, ParadigmsEng in { lincat Prop = S ; Nat = NP ; lin Zero = UsePN (regPN "zero" nonhuman) ; Succ n = DetCN (DetSg (SgQuant DefArt) NoOrd) (ComplN2 (regN2 "successor") n) ; Even n = UseCl TPres ASimul PPos (PredVP n (UseComp (CompAP (PositA (regA "even"))))) ; And x y = ConjS and_Conj (BaseS x y) ; } --# -path=.:alltenses:prelude concrete ArithmSwe of Arithm = open LangSwe, ParadigmsSwe in { lincat Prop = S ; Nat = NP ; lin Zero = UsePN (regPN "noll" neutrum) ; Succ n = DetCN (DetSg (SgQuant DefArt) NoOrd) (ComplN2 (mkN2 (mk2N "efterföljare" "efterföljare") (mkPreposition "till")) n) ; Even n = UseCl TPres ASimul PPos (PredVP n (UseComp (CompAP (PositA (regA "jämn"))))) ; And x y = ConjS and_Conj (BaseS x y) ; } ``` ===How to find resource functions=== The definitions in this example were found by parsing: ``` > i LangEng.gf -- for Successor: > p -cat=NP -mcfg -parser=topdown "the mother of Paris" -- for Even: > p -cat=S -mcfg -parser=topdown "Paris is old" -- for And: > p -cat=S -mcfg -parser=topdown "Paris is old and I am old" ``` The use of parsing can be systematized by **example-based grammar writing**, to which we will return later. ===A functor implementation=== The interesting thing now is that the code in ``ArithmSwe`` is similar to the code in ``ArithmEng``, except for some lexical items ("noll" vs. "zero", "efterföljare" vs. "successor", "jämn" vs. "even"). How can we exploit the similarities and actually share code between the languages? The solution is to use a functor: an ``incomplete`` module that opens an ``abstract`` as an ``interface``, and then instantiate it to different languages that implement the interface. The structure is as follows: ``` abstract Foo ... incomplete concrete FooI = open Lang, Lex in ... concrete FooEng of Foo = FooI with (Lang=LangEng), (Lex=LexEng) ; concrete FooSwe of Foo = FooI with (Lang=LangSwe), (Lex=LexSwe) ; ``` where ``Lex`` is an abstract lexicon that includes the vocabulary specific to this application: ``` abstract Lex = Cat ** ... concrete LexEng of Lex = CatEng ** open ParadigmsEng in ... concrete LexSwe of Lex = CatSwe ** open ParadigmsSwe in ... ``` Here, again, a complete example (``abstract Arithm`` is as above): ``` incomplete concrete ArithmI of Arithm = open Lang, Lex in { lincat Prop = S ; Nat = NP ; lin Zero = UsePN zero_PN ; Succ n = DetCN (DetSg (SgQuant DefArt) NoOrd) (ComplN2 successor_N2 n) ; Even n = UseCl TPres ASimul PPos (PredVP n (UseComp (CompAP (PositA even_A)))) ; And x y = ConjS and_Conj (BaseS x y) ; } --# -path=.:alltenses:prelude concrete ArithmEng of Arithm = ArithmI with (Lang = LangEng), (Lex = LexEng) ; --# -path=.:alltenses:prelude concrete ArithmSwe of Arithm = ArithmI with (Lang = LangSwe), (Lex = LexSwe) ; abstract Lex = Cat ** { fun zero_PN : PN ; successor_N2 : N2 ; even_A : A ; } concrete LexSwe of Lex = CatSwe ** open ParadigmsSwe in { lin zero_PN = regPN "noll" neutrum ; successor_N2 = mkN2 (mk2N "efterföljare" "efterföljare") (mkPreposition "till") ; even_A = regA "jämn" ; } ``` ==Transfer modules== Transfer means noncompositional tree-transforming operations. The command ``apply_transfer = at`` is typically used in a pipe: ``` > p "John walks and John runs" | apply_transfer aggregate | l John walks and runs ``` See the [sources ../../transfer/examples/aggregation] of this example. See the [transfer language documentation ../transfer.html] for more information. ==Practical issues== ===Lexers and unlexers=== Lexers and unlexers can be chosen from a list of predefined ones, using the flags``-lexer`` and `` -unlexer`` either in the grammar file or on the GF command line. Given by ``help -lexer``, ``help -unlexer``: ``` The default is words. -lexer=words tokens are separated by spaces or newlines -lexer=literals like words, but GF integer and string literals recognized -lexer=vars like words, but "x","x_...","$...$" as vars, "?..." as meta -lexer=chars each character is a token -lexer=code use Haskell's lex -lexer=codevars like code, but treat unknown words as variables, ?? as meta -lexer=text with conventions on punctuation and capital letters -lexer=codelit like code, but treat unknown words as string literals -lexer=textlit like text, but treat unknown words as string literals -lexer=codeC use a C-like lexer -lexer=ignore like literals, but ignore unknown words -lexer=subseqs like ignore, but then try all subsequences from longest The default is unwords. -unlexer=unwords space-separated token list (like unwords) -unlexer=text format as text: punctuation, capitals, paragraph

-unlexer=code format as code (spacing, indentation) -unlexer=textlit like text, but remove string literal quotes -unlexer=codelit like code, but remove string literal quotes -unlexer=concat remove all spaces -unlexer=bind like identity, but bind at "&+" ``` ===Efficiency of grammars=== Issues: - the choice of datastructures in ``lincat``s - the value of the ``optimize`` flag - parsing efficiency: ``-mcfg`` vs. others ===Speech input and output=== The``speak_aloud = sa`` command sends a string to the speech synthesizer [Flite http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/flite/doc/]. It is typically used via a pipe: ``` generate_random | linearize | speak_aloud The result is only satisfactory for English. The ``speech_input = si`` command receives a string from a speech recognizer that requires the installation of [ATK http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/~sjy/software.htm]. It is typically used to pipe input to a parser: ``` speech_input -tr | parse The method words only for grammars of English. Both Flite and ATK are freely available through the links above, but they are not distributed together with GF. ===Multilingual syntax editor=== The [Editor User Manual http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~aarne/GF2.0/doc/javaGUImanual/javaGUImanual.htm] describes the use of the editor, which works for any multilingual GF grammar. Here is a snapshot of the editor: [../quick-editor.gif] The grammars of the snapshot are from the [Letter grammar package http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~aarne/GF/examples/letter]. ===Interactive Development Environment (IDE)=== Forthcoming. ===Communicating with GF=== Other processes can communicate with the GF command interpreter, and also with the GF syntax editor. Useful flags when invoking GF are - ``-batch`` suppresses the promps and structures the communication with XML tags. - ``-s`` suppresses non-output non-error messages and XML tags. -- ``-nocpu`` suppresses CPU time indication. Thus the most silent way to invoke GF is ``` gf -batch -s -nocpu ``` ===Embedded grammars in Haskell, Java, and Prolog=== GF grammars can be used as parts of programs written in the following languages. The links give more documentation. - [Java http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~bringert/gf/gf-java.html] - [Haskell http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~aarne/GF/src/GF/Embed/EmbedAPI.hs] - [Prolog http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~peb/software.html] ===Alternative input and output grammar formats=== A summary is given in the following chart of GF grammar compiler phases: [../gf-compiler.png] ==Case studies== ===Interfacing formal and natural languages=== [Formal and Informal Software Specifications http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~krijo/thesis/thesisA4.pdf], PhD Thesis by [Kristofer Johannisson http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~krijo], is an extensive example of this. The system is based on a multilingual grammar relating the formal language OCL with English and German. A simpler example will be explained here.