+ A syntax table only describes how each character changes the state
+of the parser, rather than describing the state itself. For example,
+a string delimiter character toggles the parser state between
+``in-string'' and ``in-code'' but the characters inside the string do
+not have any particular syntax to identify them as such. For example
+(note that 15 is the syntax code for generic string delimiters),
+
+@example
+(put-text-property 1 9 'syntax-table '(15 . nil))
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+does not tell Emacs that the first eight chars of the current buffer
+are a string, but rather that they are all string delimiters. As a
+result, Emacs treats them as four consecutive empty string constants.
+
+ Every time you use the parser, you specify it a starting state as
+well as a starting position. If you omit the starting state, the
+default is ``top level in parenthesis structure,'' as it would be at
+the beginning of a function definition. (This is the case for
+@code{forward-sexp}, which blindly assumes that the starting point is
+in such a state.)
+