ABSTRACT
In this section we shall attempt to construct a syntax for lan guages in general, that is to say, a system of definitions of syntactical terms which are so comprehensive as to be applicable to any language whatsoever. [We have, it is true, had chiefly in mind as examples languages similar in their principal features to the usual symbolic languages, and, in many cases, the choice of the definitions has been influenced by this fact. Nevertheless, the terms defined are also applicable to languages of quite different kinds.]
The outline of a general syntax which follows is to be regarded as no more than a first attempt. The definitions framed will certainly need improvement and completion in many respects; and, above all, the connections between the concepts will have to be more closely investigated (that is to say, further syntactical theorems will have to be proved). As yet there have been very few attempts at a general syntactical investigation; the most important are Tarski’s [.Methodo logie] and Ajdukiewicz’s [Sprache].
