Preface to the volume Languages: Bionspired Approaches

Abstract

Languages, whether they be natural or artificial, are particular cases of a symbol system. And the manipulation of symbols is the stem of formal language theory. The theory of formal languages mainly originated from mathematics and generative linguistics. It was born in the middle of the 20th century as a tool for modelling and investigating the syntax of natural languages. After 1964, it developed as a separate branch with specific problems, techniques and results and since then it has had an important role in the field of computer science. Formal language theory, due to its abstract and formal properties, has been applied to a wide range of fields (besides initial linguistic motivation): economic modelling, developmental biology, cryptography, sociology... Therefore, natural languages, computer science and formal languages had a mutual influence over the years.