Instead of writing "Laney is the sister," Rockwell writes, "The sister is Laney." Rockwell is misapplying: syntax, because Rockwell uses the rules by which people extract the meaning from words and sentences. semantics, because Rockwell uses the rules by which words are put together to make phrases and sentences. syntax, because Rockwell uses the rules by which words are put together to make phrases and sentences. semantics, because Rockwell uses the rules by which people extract the meaning from words and sentences.