string (n.)

A term used in LINGUISTICS, and especially in GENERATIVE GRAMMAR, to refer to a linear SEQUENCE of ELEMENTS of determinate length and constitution. Formal analysis also permits the notion of a string consisting of just one short element, and also one consisting of no elements the EMPTY or NULL string. A substring is any part of a string which is itself a string. For example, the following SENTENCE can be seen as a string of elements: the+cat+sit+Past+on+the+mat. Within this, several substrings could be recognized, e.g. the+cat, the+cat+sit+Past, etc.