Syntax (linguistics)

The term “syntax” refers to the rules regarding the arrangement of words and phrases in order to create a well-formed sentence in a particular language. The study of syntax is a category within the social-science field of linguistics that includes the study of the grammatical and structural rules and principles that apply to any given language. Modern scholars of syntax attempt to describe the structure and makeup of a particular language as well as understand, study, and outline the general rules common across languages, especially those with common roots. 

The study of syntax is not simply a review of the rules of grammar. Understanding syntax helps linguists understand more about how people acquire and use language. Thus, understanding syntax helps researchers in a variety of linguistic fields of study, including semantics, the study of meaning; language acquisition, the study of how people learn language; conversation analysis, the study of conversation; discourse analysis, the study of various types of written or spoken language; morphology, the study of the structure of words; and pragmatics, the study of how language is used in social interactions.

Background

Linguists who study syntax primarily attempt to answer two questions: what the principles of syntax are for a given language, and what general principles of syntax apply to all human languages.

To understand syntax, one must first view language as a set of sentences that through grammar create meaning. Each sentence is made up of various parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives, each of which has rules governing its function and positioning in the sentence. These rules form the syntax of a language. Most native speakers of a language are never formally taught these rules, but will follow them unconsciously and can tell when they are not followed. For example, babies learning to speak English will usually not be told that an adjective comes before the noun it modifies (“the big dog”) rather than after (“the dog big”), but children internalize these rules by listening to the speech of people around them.

Overview

Studying syntax helps scholars understand how people acquire their language as children, how they start constructing sentences, and at what stage they learn the rules and principles of a language. The study of syntax also helps scholars and researchers understand how bilingual and multilingual speakers are able to interact and construct sentences in multiple languages, especially languages that are based on entirely different constructs, such as English and Japanese. Linguists also look at syntax to help develop a common set of rules and parameters that guide what can and cannot be done within a language’s overall structure.

The study of conversation and syntax has led some linguists to theorize that all languages have the same basic parameters guiding their structural makeup. This theory, known as “universal grammar,” was developed by Noam Chomsky (b. 1928) in the 1960s. The theory of universal grammar proposes that the structure, rules, and elements of a language are automatic, hardwired functions of the human mind and that a human’s ability to understand the syntax of a language could automatically manifest itself in a person’s development of language skills without being taught. This hypothesis is based on the theory that all natural human languages share a certain set of properties, as well as the “poverty of the stimulus” argument, which asserts that exposure alone does not explain the depth of children’s knowledge of their first language. The universal grammar theory evolved into subsets, including generative grammar and transformational grammar, both of which propose that language can be simply learned from the environment without instruction or knowledge of the formal rules and practices that govern its use.

Scholars of syntax apply a variety of theories to the discipline. For example, Derek Bickerton’s (b. 1926) language bioprogram hypothesis uses shared features of various pidgin languages to argue that children are born knowing certain syntactical rules. Others, such as Gerald Gazdar (b. 1950), regard syntax as an abstract formal system created and taught by others. Regardless of the theory, the basic fundamentals of syntax still apply; these theories are simply attempts to understand why and how those rules and principles exist.

In 2016, noted American author Tom Wolfe wrote The Kingdom of Speech, a book that heavily criticized Noam Chomsky. In addition to calling into question Chomsky’s linguistic theories, Wolfe also took issue with the cult of personality created around Chomsky that heavily discouraged legitimate critiques of his work. Wolfe wrote that this mirrored a similar environment practiced by adherents of Charles Darwin and his theories of evolution and natural selection. This was to establish a religious-like aura about Darwin, where critiques of his works were considered sacrilege and heresy.

Wolfe wrote that both Chomsky and Darwin heavily borrowed from other researchers without proper attribution. For example, Wolfe suggested that Darwin’s work was first initiated by a scientist named Alfred Wallace. Wolfe supported the contention of Daniel Everett, who countered Chomsky’s assertion that humans employ an internal language acquisition device. Wolfe called into question many of the findings established by both Chomsky and Darwin in supporting the work of their detractors. For example, Wolfe suggested that genetics, a study originated by a contemporary of Darwin named Gregor Mendel, better explained the evolution of species than did Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. The Kingdom of Speech was quick to garner retorts from many in the scientific community. 

Overall, the study of syntax serves as a foundational component of the field of linguistics and often serves as a complementary discipline not only to other linguistic studies but also to fields such as math and computer science, which have syntaxes of their own. Regardless of the theory, humans use the syntax of language every day to communicate effectively with their peers and operate within the social constructs of their languages. It is this shared basic knowledge that helps humans naturally communicate with each other.

Bibliography

Adger, David. Core Syntax: A Minimalist Approach. Oxford UP, 2003.

Cheng, Lisa Lai-Shen, and Norbert Corver, editors. Diagnosing Syntax. Oxford UP, 2013.

Carnie, Andrew. Modern Syntax: A Coursebook. Cambridge UP, 2011.

Culicover, Peter W. Explaining Syntax: Representations, Structures, and Computation. Oxford UP, 2013.

Culicover, Peter W., and Ray Jackendoff. Simpler Syntax. Oxford UP, 2005.

Folli, Raffaella R., et al., editors. Syntax and Its Limits. Oxford UP, 2013

Freidin, Robert. Syntax: Basic Concepts and Applications. Cambridge UP, 2012.

Garner, Dwight. “Tom Wolfe’s ‘The Kingdom of Speech’ Takes Aim at Darwin and Chomsky.” The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/books/tom-wolfes-kingdom-of-speech-takes-aim-at-darwin-and-chomsky.html. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.

McLeod, Saul. "Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development." Simply Psychology, 22 Oct. 2025, www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.

Nordquist, Richard. "Definition and Examples of Syntax." ThoughtCo., 29 Oct. 2024, www.thoughtco.com/syntax-grammar-1692182. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.

Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. 4th ed., Oxford UP, 2019.

Poole, Steven. “The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe – a Bonfire of Facts, Reeking of Vanity.” The Guardian, 8 Sept. 2016, www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/08/the-kingdom-of-speech-by-tom-wolfe-review. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.

Stockwell, Peter, and Sara Whiteley, editors. The Cambridge Handbook of Stylistics. Cambridge UP, 2014.

Stockwell, Peter. Texture: A Cognitive Aesthetics of Reading. Edinburgh UP, 2009.