An Extended Theory of Head-Driven Parsing

TL;DR

This paper expands the theoretical framework of head-driven parsing, introducing new algorithms and a more detailed notion of processing order, supported by an LR-based parsing algorithm.

Contribution

It presents a generalized theory of head-driven parsing, including new algorithms and a refined concept of processing order, extending prior models.

Findings

More head-driven parsing algorithms are possible than previously known.

A new, more detailed notion of processing order is introduced.

An LR-based parsing algorithm for the new strategy is developed.

Abstract

We show that more head-driven parsing algorithms can be formulated than those occurring in the existing literature. These algorithms are inspired by a family of left-to-right parsing algorithms from a recent publication. We further introduce a more advanced notion of ``head-driven parsing'' which allows more detailed specification of the processing order of non-head elements in the right-hand side. We develop a parsing algorithm for this strategy, based on LR parsing techniques.