Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is
the set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences in a
given language, usually
including word order.
Etymology
The word syntax comes from Ancient Greek: "coordination", which consists of
"together", and "an ordering".
One basic description of a language's syntax is the sequence
in which the subject (S), verb (V), and object (O) usually appear in sentences. Over 85% of languages
usually place the subject first, either in the sequence SVO or the
sequence SOV. The other possible
sequences are VSO, VOS, OVS, and OSV, the last three of
which are rare. In most generative theories of syntax, these surface
differences arise from a more complex clausal phrase structure, and each order
may be compatible with multiple derivations.
In linguistics,
"syntax" refers to the rules that govern
the ways in which words combine
to form phrases, clauses,
and sentences.
The term "syntax" comes from the Greek, meaning "arrange
together." The term is also used to mean the study of the syntactic
properties of a language.
Syntax is one of the major components of grammar. It's the
concept that enables people to know how to start a question with a question
word ("What is that?"), or that adjectives generally come before
the nouns they describe ("green chair"), subjects often come
before verbs in non-question sentences ("She jogged"), prepositional
phrases start with prepositions ("to the store"), helping verbs come
before main verbs ("can go" or "will do"), and so on.
For native speakers, using correct syntax is something that comes
naturally, as word order is learned as soon as an infant starts absorbing the
language. Native speakers can tell something isn't said quite right because it
"sounds weird," even if they can't detail the exact grammar rule
that makes something sound "off" to the ear.
Syntactic Rules
English parts of speech often follow ordering patterns in sentences
and clauses, such as compound sentences are joined by conjunctions (and, but,
or) or that multiple adjectives modifying the same noun follow a particular
order according to their class (such as number-size-color, as in "six
small green chairs"). The rules of how to order words help the language
parts make sense.
Syntax vs. Diction and Formal vs.
Informal
Diction refers to the style
of writing or speaking that someone uses, brought about by their choice of
words, whereas syntax is the order in which they're arranged in the spoken or
written sentence. Something written using a very high level of diction, like a
paper published in an academic journal or a lecture given in a college
classroom, is written very formally. Speaking to friends or texting is
informal, meaning they have a low level of diction.
Types of Sentence Structures
Types of sentences and their syntax modes include simple sentences,
compound sentences, complex sentences, and compound-complex sentences. Compound
sentences are two simple sentences joined by a conjunction. Complex sentences
have dependent clauses, and compound-complex sentences have both types
included.
- Simple sentence:
Subject-verb structure ("The girl ran.")
- Compound sentence:
Subject-verb-object-conjunction-subject-verb structure ("The girl ran
the marathon, and her cousin did, too.")
- Complex sentence:
Dependent clause-subject-verb-object structure ("Although they were
tired after the marathon, the cousins decided to go to a celebration at
the park.")
- Compound-complex sentence:
Four clauses, dependent and independent structures ("Although they
weren't fond of crowds, this was different, they decided, because of the
common goal that had brought everyone together.")
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