# Formal Semantics of the Language Cypher

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.09984 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.09984/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 27 Feb 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [GraphRAFT: Retrieval Augmented Fine-Tuning for Knowledge Graphs on Graph Databases](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.05478/) (2025)
- [Graph Neural Networks on Graph Databases](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.11375/) (2024)
- [Towards Training and Inference of Graph Neural Networks in Graph Databases](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.19142/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Cypher is a query language for property graphs. It was originally designed and implemented as part of the Neo4j graph database, and it is currently used in a growing number of commercial systems, industrial applications and research projects. In this work, we provide denotational semantics of the core fragment of the read-only part of Cypher, which features in particular pattern matching, filtering, and most relational operations on tables.