I. The Structure of Discourse

1. Syntax is the grammatical regimen that informs meaningful discourse. It is concerned with the relationship between the forms and functions of words in context (morphosyntax) and with the principles that shape their arrangement in sequence (word order). Extended discourse is divisible into a sequence of grammatically autonomous units, which for want of a clearer term will here be called s e n t e n c e s . They are those units which can be marked off in writing by full stops, corresponding to breaks in syntactical continuity between successive units.