Syntaxis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The arrangement and relationship of words in phrases and sentences; the structural rules guiding how words combine to convey meaning; the study of how sentence elements interact to form coherent discourse
2. A systematic framework determining how linguistic units form sentences and clauses; the patterns by which languages organize words into comprehensible expressions; the analysis of sentence structure and its function in communication
3. The rules governing the order of words in writing and speech; a methodical approach to understanding sentence formation and grammatical relations; the discipline examining how syntax contributes to effective language use

Etymology: "Syntaxis" is the Latin spelling of a Greek word, σύνταξις (súntaxis), built from "syn-" meaning "together" and "táxis" meaning "arrangement" or "ordering." In Greek the sense was broad: a putting-in-order or arrangement of things, whether troops drawn up for battle or items set out in a series. The idea of arranging things side by side is the core of the word, and the grammatical sense of "word order" grew from that same root. The Greek word passed into Late Latin as "syntaxis," and from there into English as a doublet of "syntax," the more familiar form that arrived through French. Both forms come from the same source, but English kept them apart in use: "syntax" is the everyday term for the arrangement of words in sentences, while "syntaxis" keeps the more Latinate, technical flavour of the original.

Synonyms: syntax