Syntax

In linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek συν- syn-, “together”, and τάξις táxis, “arrangement”) is the study of the rules that govern the structure of sentences, and which determine their relative grammaticality. 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. Since the field of syntax attempts to explain grammaticality judgments, and not provide them, it is unconcerned with linguistic prescription.

Though all theories of syntax take human as their object of study, there are some significant differences in outlook. Chomskyan linguists see syntax as a branch of psychology, since they conceive syntax as the study of linguistic knowledge. Others (e.g. Gerald Gazdar) take a more Platonistic view, regarding syntax as the study of an abstract formal system.