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.