Syntax/Semantics as a false dichotomy

The major opposition in language is thus not between formal syntax and semantics, but between a linguistic symbol and its communicative significance; signifier and signified, form and function, symbol and meaning. Within the signifier/form/symbol pole, we may then distinguish among different types of linguistic signs, for example, lexical, morphological, and phrasal. Within the signified/function/meaning pole, we may distinguish between semantic and pragmatic functions. But there are no linguistic structures that operate independent of meaning in the cognitive-functional account. (Tomasello, 1998, p. xi)