Definition:Formal Language

Definition
A formal language is a structure $\mathcal L$ which comprises:


 * A set of symbols $\mathcal A$ called the alphabet of $\mathcal L$;
 * A collation system with the unique readability property for $\mathcal A$;
 * A formal grammar that determines which collations belong to the formal language and which do not.

Often, the collation system is left implicit, and taken simply to match the formal grammar.