syntax

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A set of rules that govern how words are combined to form phrases and sentences.

   The incorporation of a rule of V MOVEMENT into our description of English Syntax turns out to have fundamental theoretical implications for our overall Theory of Grammar: it means that we are no longer able to posit that the syntactic structure of a sentence can be described in terms of a single Phrase-marker representing its S-structure. For, the postulation of a rule of V-MOVEMENT means that we must recognise at least two different levels of structure in our Theory of Grammar — namely, a level of D-structure (formerly known as ‘Deep Structureʼ) which serves as input to the rule, and a separate level of S-structure which is formed by application of the rule.

2. 2
   noun

   The study of the structure of phrases, sentences, and language.

   [Otto] Jespersen, a language professor known for his expertise in syntax and language development, stated that headlinese is not really grammatical writing.

3. 3
   noun

   the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences

4. 4
   noun

   studies of the rules for forming admissible sentences

Common collocations

• syntax error Noun + noun

Partly from Late Latin syntaxis and partly from its etymon, Ancient Greek σύνταξις (súntaxis), from σύν (sún, “together”) + τάξις (táxis, “arrangement”), from τάσσω (tássō, “to arrange”). Doublet of syntaxis.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
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