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Let one piece of literature be one string. Let's define our alphabet to be sufficient to represent all literature (e.g. we may need a page-turn character, etc). So, since the collection of current literature is finite, it is a regular language. However, we usually talk about such languages as context sensitive and natural which are harder for a computer to deal with. So, what am I missing here?

Thanks.

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    BTW, there is a way to include 2-D formulae: convert it to LaTeX or treat it as a generalized grammar (two or more concatenation points on each character in the language).2012-03-22
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    When people talk about natural language, they're not talking about the existing corpus of natural language, but I suppose the _potential_ corpus of natural language.2012-03-22
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    To illustrate Qiaochu's point, ['I can say the following sentence and be utterly sure that nobody has ever said it before in the history of human communication: "Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers."'](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHQ2756cyD8)2012-03-22
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    It's also concerned with existing stuff. e.g. Computer, draw a circle. That's easy to interpret if that's all you want the computer to do, but if you add in a bunch of other requirements like it must interpret all ways to say draw a circle or draw an elementary 2D shape using language X, graphics API Y, position R, and only do it in certain contexts, then it's much harder. But I see your guys' points. :D2012-03-22
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    Whether natural language is regular or not is just a small part of how problematic it is "for computers to deal with". The classical example: Compare *Time flies like an arrow* to *Fruit flies like a banana*. Structurally they are identical, and it's hard to imagine a computer program being able to distinguish them without lots and lots of contextual "knowledge".2012-03-22
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    Especially since humans are not reliably able to parse this kind of sentences after each other.2012-03-22

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