Collier's New Encyclopedia

A complete general encyclopedia of 1921 — the world as it was understood just after the Great War, from Aachen to Zwingli, across twelve volumes and six thousand pages.

HomeS › Syntax

Syntax

that part of grammar which treats of the manner of connecting words into regular sentences, constructing sentences by the due arrangement of words or members in their mutual relations according to established usage. In every language there is some fundamental principle which pervades and regulates its whole construction, though it may occasionally admit of particular variations.

In some languages the principle of juxtaposition prevails, and little diversity of arrangement is possible, as is the case in English, in which inflections are so few.

The relations of the subject, the action , and the object are indicated by their respective positions. In other languagesinflected languages like Latin or Greekthese relations are indicated by the changes in the forms of the words the modes of arrangement are various .

Still, in the structure and and disposition of sentences and parts of sentences the logical relations of the thoughts must regulate the construction, even where it appears to be most arbitrary.

← Synoptic GospelsSynthesis →