Augmented Backus–Naur Form

E551359

formal grammar notation metalanguage syntax specification language

Augmented Backus–Naur Form (ABNF) is a standardized, extended version of Backus–Naur Form used to formally specify the syntax of languages and protocols, notably in Internet and communication standards.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Augmented Backus–Naur Form canonical	2
ABNF	1
ABNF notation	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T5819455 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Augmented Backus–Naur Form
Context triple: [Backus–Naur Form, influenced, Augmented Backus–Naur Form]

A. Backus–Naur Form
Backus–Naur Form is a formal notation used to define the syntax of programming languages and other formal grammars in a precise, structured way.
B. Van Wijngaarden grammars
Van Wijngaarden grammars are a highly expressive formal grammar formalism, introduced for defining complex programming language syntax and semantics, notably used in the specification of ALGOL 68.
C. Augmented Transition Network
Augmented Transition Network is a type of finite-state machine extended with stack-based memory and procedural actions, widely used in natural language processing for parsing complex sentence structures.
D. Alur language
The Alur language is a Western Nilotic language spoken primarily by the Alur people of northwestern Uganda and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
E. General and Rational Grammar
General and Rational Grammar is a 17th-century French linguistic treatise from the Port-Royal school that seeks to explain the universal, rational principles underlying all human languages.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Augmented Backus–Naur Form
Target entity description: Augmented Backus–Naur Form (ABNF) is a standardized, extended version of Backus–Naur Form used to formally specify the syntax of languages and protocols, notably in Internet and communication standards.

A. Backus–Naur Form
Backus–Naur Form is a formal notation used to define the syntax of programming languages and other formal grammars in a precise, structured way.
B. Van Wijngaarden grammars
Van Wijngaarden grammars are a highly expressive formal grammar formalism, introduced for defining complex programming language syntax and semantics, notably used in the specification of ALGOL 68.
C. Augmented Transition Network
Augmented Transition Network is a type of finite-state machine extended with stack-based memory and procedural actions, widely used in natural language processing for parsing complex sentence structures.
D. Alur language
The Alur language is a Western Nilotic language spoken primarily by the Alur people of northwestern Uganda and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
E. General and Rational Grammar
General and Rational Grammar is a 17th-century French linguistic treatise from the Port-Royal school that seeks to explain the universal, rational principles underlying all human languages.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	formal grammar notation ⓘ metalanguage ⓘ syntax specification language ⓘ
abbreviation	ABNF ⓘ linked to: Augmented Backus–Naur Form
basedOn	Backus–Naur Form ⓘ
category	Internet standards terminology ⓘ formal languages ⓘ
definedIn	STD 68 ⓘ
extends	Backus–Naur Form ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	ABNF notation ⓘ linked to: Augmented Backus–Naur Form
hasFeature	case-insensitive string matching ⓘ comment syntax ⓘ concise syntax notation ⓘ grouping with parentheses ⓘ incremental alternatives using slash operator ⓘ rule naming with identifiers ⓘ support for prose descriptions ⓘ support for repetition operators ⓘ support for value ranges ⓘ
hasNotation	%b for binary character values ⓘ %d for decimal character values ⓘ %x for hexadecimal character values ⓘ () for grouping ⓘ * for repetition ⓘ / for alternation ⓘ ; for comments ⓘ rule = elements ⓘ
hasOperator	alternation ⓘ concatenation ⓘ repetition ⓘ value range ⓘ
hasProperty	human-readable ⓘ machine-processable ⓘ unambiguous syntax rules ⓘ
relatedTo	Backus–Naur Form ⓘ context-free grammars ⓘ syntax diagrams ⓘ
standardizedBy	IETF ⓘ linked to: Internet Engineering Task Force
standardizedIn	RFC 5234 ⓘ
usedFor	formal specification of language syntax ⓘ formal specification of protocol syntax ⓘ
usedInDomain	Internet standards ⓘ communication protocols ⓘ
usedToSpecify	HTTP protocol syntax ⓘ SIP protocol syntax ⓘ SMTP protocol syntax ⓘ many IETF protocol grammars ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Backus–Naur Form → influenced → Augmented Backus–Naur Form ⓘ

Backus–Naur Form → hasVariant → Augmented Backus–Naur Form ⓘ

Augmented Backus–Naur Form → abbreviation → ABNF ⓘ

linked to: Augmented Backus–Naur Form

Augmented Backus–Naur Form → hasAlternativeName → ABNF notation ⓘ