A syntax table is a vector of 256 integers. Each element of the vector defines how one character is interpreted when it appears in a buffer. For example, in C mode (see section Major Modes), the `+' character is punctuation, but in Lisp mode it is a valid character in a symbol. These modes specify different interpretations by changing the syntax table entry for `+', at index 43 in the syntax table.
Syntax tables are used only for scanning text in buffers, not for reading Lisp expressions. The table the Lisp interpreter uses to read expressions is built into the Emacs source code and cannot be changed; thus, to change the list delimiters to be `{' and `}' instead of `(' and `)' would be impossible.
See section Syntax Tables, for details about syntax classes and how to make and modify syntax tables.
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