Syntax is the part of Grammar who studies the disposition of words in the periods, as well as the logical relationship between them. she is the set of rules that determine the different possibilities of association of the words of the language for the formation of statements.
All languages, in addition to having alexicon composed of thousands of words, they also have some rules that determine the how words can combine to form utterances. These rules are what define the syntax of languages. It is the function of syntax to organize the structure of linguistic units (phrases) which will be combined into sentences. When one subjectverbally interacts with another, he organizes the linguistic sentences in order to transmit a full meaning so that it can be understood.
Although there is not only one way to organize the linguistic sentences, the fact that languages have their syntax itself prevents us from performing random combinations of words. Watch:
Last month, Ana bought a new car.
Ana bought a new car last month.
Ana bought a new car last month.
A new car Ana bought last month.
Last month, Ana bought a new car.
A new car Ana bought last month.
As you can see, the sense of utterance is preserved and understandable, despite the different possibilities of syntactic organization of words. This way, you can check how the syntax organizes the structure of the phrases that will combine into sentences. However, there are combinations that cannot form a statement with complete meaning, for example:
Last month a car Ana bought.
As Portuguese speakers, we are able to recognize all the words in the utterance, but we conclude that the order as they are arranged does not produce full meaning. With the example above, you can see how the syntax determines the possibilities of word association language for the formation of utterances.
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Syntactic relations and functions
As we have seen, the language statements reflect a specific organization predicted in the language, and this word association is always regulated by the syntax, which defines the possible sequences inside these structures. In order for us to understand the syntactic structures, it is important to know what the types of relations and syntactic functions.
syntactic relations
These are the relationships established between the words that define the possible structures in the syntax of languages. See the example:
Ana bought a new car last month.
- Ana: agent of the action expressed by the verb 'buy';
- Last month: when the action was taken.
syntactic functions
it is about the function of each element in the sentence when relating to the other elements that make up the utterance. When it is possible to establish a syntactic relationship between the elements of a statement, these elements perform a specific syntactic function. Read the example again:
Ana bought a new car last month.
- Ana: subject of the verb 'buy'.
- One: adnominal deputy.
- A new car: direct object to buy.
As you can see, performing the syntactic analysis of the language's utterances means explaining the structures, relationships and functions of the terms that constitute them.
Did you see how important and easy it is to study the syntax of the Portuguese language? We suggest that you also read about the Morphology. Enjoy your reading and good studies!
By Ma. Luciana Kuchenbecker Araújo
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
ARAúJO, Luciana Kuchenbecker. "What is syntax?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/portugues/o-que-e-sintaxe.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
