A syntactician is a linguist who studies the rules governing word combinations in sentences and phrases. Syntax is a subfield of linguistics, which also includes semantics, morphology, phonology, and phonetics. Theoretical linguistics also encompasses comparative and historical linguistics, while applied linguistics applies linguistic theories to practical areas such as language education and translation. A syntactician would review a sentence for proper word arrangement and adherence to grammatical rules, but also consider the appropriateness of individual words for conveying meaning.
A syntactician is a linguist who specializes in the study of grammar and syntax. In the past these specialists were also called grammarians, but this practice has fallen into disuse. To understand what a syntactician really does, one must first understand linguistics, as the study of syntax is a subfield of the study of linguistics.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, both theoretical and applied, and a linguist is someone who studies language scientifically. Theoretical linguistics, also known as general linguistics, includes a number of subfields that deal with words, word order, word meaning, and word sounds. Subfields of linguistics include semantics, syntax, morphology, phonology, and phonetics. Grammar, once considered a subfield of linguistics, is now generally excluded from this list.
Theoretical linguistics also includes comparing languages and exploring the history of language. As fields of study, comparative linguistics strives to find universal properties of language, while historical linguistics is aimed at the development of language over time. Applied linguistics is the implementation of theoretical, comparative and historical linguistics in various areas of practice, such as the study of foreign languages, education, speech therapy, translation and speech therapy.
In linguistics, syntax is specifically about the rules that govern the ways words combine to form sentences and phrases. Syntax is closely associated with grammar, because grammar governs the structure of language, which is influenced by syntactic rules.
So a syntactician is a linguist who specializes in studying appropriate combinations or word patterns in the formation of sentences and phrases. A syntactician can also be a person who documents and attempts to discover the rationale for usage standards for a particular language.
For example, suppose a syntactician has been presented with a sentence for review. The syntactician would mainly be concerned with the arrangement of words and whether this arrangement was orderly, systematic and in accordance with standard grammatical and syntactical rules. However, the syntactician would also be concerned with the semantics or meaning of words, whether a specific word was appropriate to convey an idea. If sentence formation was awkward, for example, the syntactician might change word order or word tense to improve the sentence, but generally the syntactician would not modify the words used.
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