Syntax Syntax is the study of the rules, or “patterned relations”, that govern the way words combine to form phrases and phrases combine to form sentences

-eg grammatically correct

Semantics Semantics refers to the aspects of meaning that are expressed in a language, code, or other form of representation.

-eg anything have meaning

Computers are good at recognising syntax (symbols), however problems may arise when semantics are involved. An example is the sentence: “Orange ideas sleep furiously”. It is correct grammatically (in terms of the usage of adjectives, nouns, verb and adverb), but is not meaningfully consistent.

If we have a field of knowledge and we can express it in a way so there is a relation btweenn the syntax and the concept, ie the semantics is mapped to the syntax, then we have what is known as an ontology. A one-to-one mapping between concepts and symbols whill allow computers to reason more accurately.

Cycorp has been attempting to build a universal ontology so we can describe reality with a one-to-one mapping btween symbols(eg a noun) and the concept it holds (its meaning).