[betty boop]

The commonality, though, is that the rules of the language determine the initial understanding of the message in the scribblings put down on the page.

I'm not contesting this, xzins. :^) You need to know the rules of language — its syntax — in order to understand its message — its semantics. But semantics does not "reduce" to syntax.

[xzins]

I'm not contesting this, xzins. :^)

That wasn't my reason for writing, sister. I was simply affirming the importance of the normal means of reading any text.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you both for this sidebar! Truly, semantics does not reduce to syntax.