# El Lenguaje Natural como Lenguaje Formal

## TL;DR

This paper explores the use of formal language theory to analyze natural language, assessing the adequacy of grammatical formalisms in capturing syntactic phenomena and their implications for linguistic and computational sciences.

## Contribution

It introduces the adequacy problem of grammatical formalisms for natural language and reviews historical proposals and arguments regarding their suitability.

## Key findings

- Analysis of formal languages' capacity to model natural syntax
- Historical review of grammatical formalism proposals
- Discussion on limitations and strengths of formalisms

## Abstract

Formal languages theory is useful for the study of natural language. In particular, it is of interest to study the adequacy of the grammatical formalisms to express syntactic phenomena present in natural language. First, it helps to draw hypothesis about the nature and complexity of the speaker-hearer linguistic competence, a fundamental question in linguistics and other cognitive sciences. Moreover, from an engineering point of view, it allows the knowledge of practical limitations of applications based on those formalisms. In this article I introduce the adequacy problem of grammatical formalisms for natural language, also introducing some formal language theory concepts required for this discussion. Then, I review the formalisms that have been proposed in history, and the arguments that have been given to support or reject their adequacy. ----- La teor\'ia de lenguajes formales es \'util para el estudio de los lenguajes naturales. En particular, resulta de inter\'es estudiar la adecuaci\'on de los formalismos gramaticales para expresar los fen\'omenos sint\'acticos presentes en el lenguaje natural. Primero, ayuda a trazar hip\'otesis acerca de la naturaleza y complejidad de las competencias ling\"u\'isticas de los hablantes-oyentes del lenguaje, un interrogante fundamental de la ling\"u\'istica y otras ciencias cognitivas. Adem\'as, desde el punto de vista de la ingenier\'ia, permite conocer limitaciones pr\'acticas de las aplicaciones basadas en dichos formalismos. En este art\'iculo hago una introducci\'on al problema de la adecuaci\'on de los formalismos gramaticales para el lenguaje natural, introduciendo tambi\'en algunos conceptos de la teor\'ia de lenguajes formales necesarios para esta discusi\'on. Luego, hago un repaso de los formalismos que han sido propuestos a lo largo de la historia, y de los argumentos que se han dado para sostener o refutar su adecuaci\'on.