Linguistics, or linguistics - the science of speech, language and communication - studies the most diverse aspects of the structure and functioning of languages. Syntax is a branch of language science that studies phrases, sentences, and text. This article is devoted to exactly what and from what point of view experts are studying.
Collocations
Phrases are such formations in the language that are constructed from ready-made units - words and phraseological units - with or without service words (prepositions) according to certain rules of a particular language. Syntax is a branch of the science of language that studies by what particular rules words are combined into phrases and by what means.
To construct a phrase is not enough to take any two words and mechanically combine them. First, they must be connected by meaning. Say, the words “finch” and “lop-eared” can be easily connected by all the rules of grammar (lop-eared finch, lop-eared finch, etc.), but the meanings of these words will resist such a combination. It can take place only if both of these words or one of them will be used in a figurative meaning. For example, a “chaffinch” can be called a puppy that often freezes, then the phrase “lop-eared chaffinch” will be all right. These are interesting questions, but the syntax deals with them indirectly, it is more a field of the science of semantics and semasiology - the science of the meaning of words.
Syntax is a branch of the science of language that studies phrases in terms of their formal connection. Syntaxists are interested in the question of why some combinations of words are perceived by carriers as grammatically correct, while others are not. The simplest examples are blue water and blue water. In the first case, the rule of matching the adjective and noun is violated. In Russian, the adjective (definition) must repeat the forms of the noun (defined) so that the phrase is correct. Therefore, syntax is a branch of the science of language that studies phrases from a grammatical point of view.
Sentence
Phrases are constructed from words, and phrases are combined into sentences. Syntax is a branch of the science of language that studies by what rules and according to which models this happens. There are a lot of questions for study and research, and the easiest way to see this is the example of the difference between languages. Say, in the English sentence, the grammatical basis must include both the subject and the predicate. If the meaning of the proposal does not imply a subject, it should still be formally presented. - It (formal subject, which is not necessary in terms of meaning) is raining.
In the Russian language, the grammatical basis can be represented unanimously: "All the time it rains"; "It is cold today"; "It dawns quickly in the fall." In all these sentences, it is impossible to distinguish between subject and predicate, and at the same time, the main term of sentences (rain, cold, dusk) is both subject and predicate (syntactic functions are implemented by them syncretically). More voluminous associations — texts — are also studied by syntax.
Punctuation
Why is it important for all native speakers to understand what syntax is? Punctuation (correct punctuation) is based on syntactic knowledge, so in order to write correctly, you need to understand not only the basics, but also the nuances of syntax. Suppose it is impossible to understand where to put a comma in a complex sentence, not knowing what a complex sentence is and not knowing how to find the boundaries of its parts.
Thus, syntax is a science that studies texts, the laws of the formation of sentences and combining words into phrases. Punctuation knowledge is based on syntax.