Combinatorics on words has arisen independently within several branches of mathematics, for instance, number theory, group theory and probability, and appears frequently in problems related to theoretical computer science. The first unified treatment of the area was given in Lothaire's Combinatorics on Words. Since its publication, the area has developed and the authors now aim to present several more topics as well as giving deeper insights into subjects that were discussed in the previous volume. An introductory chapter provides the reader with all the necessary background material. There...

This book presents a theory of formal languages with main emphasis on rational transductions and their use for the classification of context-free lan guages. The Ievel of presentation corresponds to that of beginning graduate or advanced undergraduate work. Prerequisites for this book are covered by a "standard" first-semester coursein formallanguages and automata theory: e.g. a knowledge of Chapters 1-3 of Ginsburg 1966], or Chapters 3-4 of Hopcroft and Ullman 1971], or Chapter 2 of Salomaa 1973], or Chap ters 2 and 4 of Becker and Walter 1977] would suffice. The book is self-contained...