Semantic Features and Syntactic Elements

By Armani Mason-Bennett

Semantic Features

Semantic features are used to help communicate a particular genre these features include;• Characters• Locations• Props• Music• Costumes• Make-Up• Shooting Style

Syntactic elements is the relationship between the conventions and the structure of the narrative in a genre.Semantic features and syntactic elements need each other to effectively work. therefore it becomes…

Syntactic element + Semantic feature =

Genre

To Illustrate…

To illustrate in the film "The Others" a woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that her family home is haunted.

The semantic feature of location linked to the syntactic element of a darkened old house can all associate to the genre of horror as commonly in a horror film an old dark house is a common location for a horror film as it is quiet and isolated and nobody goes there so it would be expected for there to be a scary surprise

Therefore, enhancing the horror genre and showing how semantic features and syntactic elements need each other to reinforce the genre of the narrative.