Syntax

For other uses, see Syntax (disambiguation).

“Syntactic” redirects here.

In linguistics, syntax is the study of the rules that govern the structure of sentences.

The term syntax can also be used to refer to these rules themselves, as in “the syntax of a language”. Modern research in syntax attempts to describe languages in terms of such rules, and, for many practitioners, to find general rules that apply to all languages.

Related pages

• Phrase
• Grammar

Syntactic terms

Adjective Adverb Article Clause Comparative

Infinitive Noun Phrase Phrasal verb Plural

Preposition Pronoun Superlative Verb Tense Word order

References

• Brown, Keith; Jim Miller (eds.) (1996). Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories. New York: Elsevier Science. ISBN 0-08-042711-1.
• Freidin, Robert; Howard Lasnik (eds.) (2006). Syntax. Critical Concepts in Linguistics. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24672-5.
• Graffi, Giorgio (2001). 200 Years of Syntax. A Critical Survey. Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 98. Amsterdam: Benjamins. ISBN 90-272-4587-8.

Other websites

• The syntax of natural language (Beatrice Santorini & Anthony Kroch, University of Pennsylvania)
• Learn Programming Language Syntax
• Various syntactic constructs used in computer programming languages