Syntax and Grammar

Grammar

• 1.
  Term to describe a body of rules specific to a particular language (not necessarily a human language) (count noun)

  • (a) According to Noam Chomsky, child language learners eventually converge on the grammar of the L1 (first language).
  • (b) [Page 1917]The researchers taught an AXB grammar to tamarin monkeys.
• 2.
  Prescriptive use (mass noun)

  • (a) His grammar is not very good. He makes so many grammatical errors.
• 3.
  Pedagogical use. A body of rules specific to a particular language, which is explicitly taught or studied (mass noun)

  • (a) He spent the afternoon learning Japanese grammar.
  • (b) She teaches Spanish grammar to A-level students.

Syntax

• 1.
  Term to describe a linguistic domain related to language structure (not specific to a single language) (mass noun)

  • (a) Language can be divided into the domains of phonology, the lexicon, syntax, and pragmatics.
  • (b) Many neuropsychiatrists argue that Broca’s area plays an important role in syntax.
• 2.
  Term to describe the study of language structure (not specific to a single language) (mass noun)

  • (a) Abel loves studying syntax. It’s his favorite subject.

It can be seen from the above examples that grammar is often used to describe a body of rules/principles/constraints that are language-specific, for example, the grammar of Spanish. By contrast, the term syntax is used to describe a more abstract system that underlies all human languages. For example, while gender agreement between the determiner and noun is often described as a feature of Spanish grammar, for example, el perro (the dog), la ventana (the window), agreement in general is best described as a syntactic phenomenon, that is, present across a wide variety of languages. Grammar and syntax also differ in their countability. While grammar is frequently countable, for example, the researchers taught an AXB grammar/some different grammars to tamarin monkeys, syntax is almost always used as a mass noun. For example, it would sound very odd to say the researchers taught an AXB syntax. Finally, grammar is often used in prescriptive/pedagogical contexts. For example, we refer to an individual making grammatical errors (prescriptive context) or learning Spanish grammar (pedagogical context). The term syntax is rarely used in these contexts.

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