nonsyntactic

Nonsyntactic is an adjective used to describe aspects of language and language processing that are not determined by syntactic structure. In linguistics, it contrasts with syntactic phenomena, which are governed by rules of grammar and hierarchical phrase structure. Nonsyntactic elements include prosody (intonation, stress, rhythm), discourse context, pragmatics, semantics, world knowledge, and processing constraints. The term is often used to emphasize factors that influence interpretation or use of language beyond syntax. For example, two sentences with identical surface syntax can be interpreted differently based on nonsyntactic cues such as context or emphasis; or a phrase may convey certain meanings through idiomatic or semantic associations that do not depend on syntactic composition.

In computational linguistics and psycholinguistics, non-syntactic information may guide parsing and interpretation without relying on deep syntactic analysis—for instance, topical information, plausibility, anaphora resolution, or prosodic cues in spoken language. Nonsyntactic considerations are integral to discourse analysis and pragmatics, where the same syntactic form can have different intended effects depending on context.

Critics note that separating syntactic from nonsyntactic factors is difficult, since syntax interacts with semantics and pragmatics. The term thus serves as a heuristic for acknowledging non-syntactic constraints in language analysis, rather than a strict, formal category.