Formal Languages
A formal language consists of a fixed collection of sentences (also called words or formulas, depending on the context) composed from a fixed set of letters or symbols. The inventory from which these letters are taken is called the alphabet over which the language is defined. The essential feature of a formal language is that its syntax can be defined without reference to interpretation. We can determine that (P or Q) is a well-formed formula even without knowing whether it is true or false.
To distinguish the strings of symbols that are in a formal language from arbitrary strings of symbols, the former are sometimes called well-formed formulæ (wffs).
Read more about this topic: Interpretation (logic)
Famous quotes containing the words formal and/or languages:
“Then the justice,
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Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The trouble with foreign languages is, you have to think before your speak.”
—Swedish proverb, trans. by Verne Moberg.