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In logic and linguistics, a metalanguage is a language used to describe another language, often called the object language.[1] Expressions in a metalanguage are often distinguished from those in the object language by the use of italics, quotation marks, or writing on a separate line.[citation needed] The structure of sentences and phrases in a metalanguage can be described by a metasyntax.[2] For example, to say that the word "noun" can be used as a noun in a sentence, one could write "noun" is a <noun>.
^van Wijngaarden, A., et al. "Language and metalanguage." Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language Algol 68. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1976. 17-35.
