A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics
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/ (FSA) (also finite automaton) or finite-state transition network (FSTN) n. The simplest type of automaton or transition network, consisting merely of a set of states (nodes) connected by directional arcs with actions or conditions attached, with no additional machinery.
The languages generated or recognized by either the deterministic or non-deterministic FSAs are exactly the regular languages. NOTE: strictly, an FSTN is an abstract representation, while an FSA is an implementation of it for a particular purpose, but the difference is rarely significant.
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