SYNTAX

Syntax is the grammar, structure, or order of the elements in a language statement. (Semantics is the meaning of these elements.) Syntax applies to computer languages as well as to natural languages. Usually, we think of syntax as "word order."

Traditionally, linguists have recognized a basic distinction between syntax (which is primarily concerned with the ways in which words are put together in sentences) andmorphology (which is primarily concerned with the internal structures of words).