linear grammar

A term used in COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS for a type of GRAMMAR which describes only LINEAR or non-HIERARCHICAL aspects of STRINGS; also known as regular grammar. If the NON-TERMINAL symbol is the leftmost symbol on the right-hand side of a RULE, the grammar is a left-linear grammar; if it is the rightmost, it is a right-linear grammar. For example, a right-linear grammar has rules of the form A ⇒ aB, B ⇒ b.