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According to the dictionary,
the syntax of a language
is
the grammatical rules for
combining terms
into phrases and sentences of a
language.
the semantics of a language
is
the relation of terms to their
meanings --
the things
which those terms denote/refer
to.
In a most unfortunate perversion of
definitions,
probably due to the influence of Noam Chomsky,
"formal semantics"/"model theory" is
concerned
with the syntax of a language, independent
of
the semantics of a language. Formal
semantics
looks at the properties of the syntax of a
language
which do not depend
on the actual semantics of the
language.
That is why I associate
syntax with "possible meaning"
and semantics with "real meaning".
You (and Pat Hayes and Chris Menzel) are
very
focused on syntax. Whenever I mention
some
issue relating to the semantics of mKR, you
change
the subject to [the "missing" documentation
of]
the syntax of mKR.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that
semantics
logically precedes syntax. As a language
evolves,
there is an interaction between syntax and
semantics,
but syntax is the servant of
semantics.
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