well-formednessn.
/ˌwɛlˈfɔːm(ᵻ)dnᵻs/, U.S. /ˌwɛlˈfɔrm(ᵻ)dnᵻs/ Linguistics and Philosophy.
The fact or condition of being formed according to the rules, esp. the syntactic rules, of a language.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > [noun] > grammatical rule or principle > adherence to
grammaticalness1649
well-formedness1947
grammaticality1961
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > predicate or propositional logic > [noun] > well-formed formula > elements of
formation-rule1937
well-formedness1947
1947 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 12 98 The grammatical (syntactical) condition of well-formedness may be only a first necessary condition of being a statement in the sense of being meaningful.
1957 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 306/1 The condition of well-formedness [in logical formulas].
1961 N. Chomsky in Word 17 221 Information as to whether the sequence of phones is a properly formed or grammatical sentence and if not, in what respect it deviates from well-formedness.
1990 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 35 14 The Theta Criterion, a syntactic well-formedness condition on argument structure.
2011 V. Fromkin et al. Introd. Lang. (ed. 9) i. 13 It [sc. a descriptive grammar] explains how it is possible for you to speak and understand and make judgments about well-formedness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1947