Pronunciation: [dˌa͡ɪətˈe͡ɪksi͡ə] (IPA) 
The word "diataxia" is spelled with six letters, but its pronunciation is not so straightforward. It's pronounced /daɪ.əˈtæksiə/, which means it has three syllables with the primary stress on the second syllable. The letters "i" and "a" are placed side by side repeatedly in this word, forming two syllables "ia." The "x" represents the sound /ks/ at the end, which is also a challenging letter combination to spell and pronounce.
Diataxia is a term used in linguistics to describe a phenomenon where a language exhibits a change in its word order or sentence structure under certain syntactic or semantic conditions. It refers to the shifts or alterations in the sequence of grammatical constituents in a sentence, resulting in a distinctively different structure and meaning.
Diataxia typically occurs in languages that have flexible or relatively free word order, where the placement of words within a sentence can be rearranged without affecting the overall meaning. It is commonly observed in languages such as Latin, Russian, and Japanese, among others.
The concept of diataxia is closely related to the notions of word order variation and syntactic flexibility. It encompasses both syntactic and discourse-related factors that influence the rearrangement of constituents in a sentence. These factors can include the emphasis on specific information, the avoidance of repetition, or the establishment of coherence and cohesion in discourse.
Diataxia is often contrasted with languages that have more rigid and fixed word order patterns, known as syntactic or morphological typology. In such languages, the word order is constrained by a strict set of rules and deviations from those rules can lead to ungrammatical constructions.
Understanding diataxia provides linguists and language learners with insights into the structure, function, and variation of different languages. It highlights the complex and dynamic nature of linguistic systems and their capacity for meaningful variation and expression.
Ataxia affecting both sides of the body, as distinguished from hemiataxia.
A practical medical dictionary. By Stedman, Thomas Lathrop. Published 1920.
