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Instead of saying, "they are the same in syntax", how to say it the other way, e.g., "they are *syntaxly* the same"?

http://www.tfd.com/syntax has no entry of its adverb form either. Thanks.

xpt
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  • I was going to say something rude about that dictionary, but apparently many of them fail to make the connection between *syntax* and *syntactic*. Weird. – Andrew Nov 07 '16 at 17:48
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    "Syntactic" is the adjective from "syntax", and "syntactically" is the adverb form. – BillJ Nov 07 '16 at 18:24
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    There are a number of similar English words ending in **-axis**, Greek in origin, which entered English via medieval Latin. E.g. praxis, parataxis, anaphylaxis, prophylaxis. Their adjectival forms all become -ctic-. Practical, paratactic, anaphylactic, prophylactic. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Nov 07 '16 at 19:14
  • @TRomano nice! Also (words ending in **-exis**) like lexis. Although lectic is not found at dictionaries (lexical is), eclectic and dialectic have the same original Greek root **-lex** . – ypercubeᵀᴹ Nov 07 '16 at 22:14

1 Answers1

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That's syntactically:

according to the rules of syntax

Remember that the adverb-forming suffix -ly is usually attached to adjectives rather than nouns. The adjectives corresponding to syntax are syntactic and syntactical.

Whenever there's a pair of collateral adjectives ending in -ic and -ical, the corresponding adverb ending in -ically is preferred over the one with -icly even if the adjective ending in -ic is more common.

J. Siebeneichler
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