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Grammar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the rules of the English language, see English grammar. For the topic in mathematics, logic, and theoretical computer science, see Formal grammar.
Not to be confused with Grammer.
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Contents
Use of the term
The term grammar is often used by non-linguists with a very broad meaning. As Jeremy Butterfield puts it, "Grammar is often a generic way of referring to any aspect of English that people object to."[1] However, linguists use it in a much more specific sense. Speakers of a language have a set of internalised rules[2] for using that language. This is grammar, and the vast majority of the information in it is acquired—at least in the case of one's native language—not by conscious study or instruction, but by observing other speakers; much of this work is done during infancy. Learning a language later in life usually involves a greater degree of explicit instruction.[3]The term "grammar" can also be used to describe the rules that govern the linguistic behaviour of a group of speakers. The term "English grammar", therefore, may have several meanings. It may refer to the whole of English grammar, that is, to the grammars of all the speakers of the language, in which case, the term encompasses a great deal of variation.[4] Alternatively, it may refer only to what is common to the grammars of all, or of the vast majority of English speakers (such as subject–verb–object word order in simple declarative sentences). Or it may refer to the rules of a particular, relatively well-defined variety of English (such as Standard English).
"An English grammar" is a specific description, study or analysis of such rules. A reference book describing the grammar of a language is called a "reference grammar" or simply "a grammar". A fully explicit grammar that exhaustively describes the grammatical constructions of a language is called a descriptive grammar. This kind of linguistic description contrasts with linguistic prescription, an attempt to discourage or suppress some grammatical constructions, while promoting others. For example, preposition stranding occurs widely in Germanic languages and has a long history in English. John Dryden, however, objected to it (without explanation),[5] leading other English speakers to avoid the construction and discourage its use.[6]
According to the Encyclopédie, "general grammar" has been used to denote the "rational science" of general principles governing all languages, while a "particular grammar" referred to the "art" of applying the conventions of one language to those general principles.[7]
Etymology
The word grammar is derived from Greek γραμματικὴ τέχνη (grammatikē technē), which means "art of letters", from γράμμα (gramma), "letter", itself from γράφειν (graphein), "to draw, to write".[8] The same Greek root also appears in graphics, grapheme, and photograph.History
Further information: History of linguistics
The first systematic grammars, of Sanskrit, originated in Iron Age India, with Yaska (6th century BC), Pāṇini (4th century BC) and his commentators Pingala (c. 200 BC), Katyayana, and Patanjali (2nd century BC). Tolkāppiyam, the earliest Tamil grammar, is mostly dated to before the 5th century AD.In the West, grammar emerged as a discipline in Hellenism from the 3rd century BC forward with authors like Rhyanus and Aristarchus of Samothrace, the oldest extant work being the Art of Grammar (Τέχνη Γραμματική), attributed to Dionysius Thrax (c. 100 BC). Latin grammar developed by following Greek models from the 1st century BC, due to the work of authors such as Orbilius Pupillus, Remmius Palaemon, Marcus Valerius Probus, Verrius Flaccus, and Aemilius Asper.
A grammar of Irish originated in the 7th century with the Auraicept na n-Éces. Arabic grammar emerged with Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali in the 7th century. The first treatises on Hebrew grammar appeared in the High Middle Ages, in the context of Mishnah (exegesis of the Hebrew Bible). The Karaite tradition originated in Abbasid Baghdad. The Diqduq (10th century) is one of the earliest grammatical com
Saturday, August 15, 2015
The history of English grammars begins late in the sixteenth century with the Pamphlet for Grammar by William Bullokar. In the early works, the structure and rules of English grammar were contrasted with those of Latin. A more modern approach, incorporating phonology, was introduced in the nineteenth century.
Contents
- 1 Sixteenth to eighteenth centuries2 Eighteenth century prescriptive grammars3 Nineteenth century to present4 Timeline of English grammars5 See also6 Notes7 References8 External links
Sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
- The first English grammar, Pamphlet for Grammar by William Bullokar→, written with the seeming goal of demonstrating that English was quite as rule-bound as Latin, was published in 1586.[1] Bullokar's grammar was faithfully modeled on William Lily's Latin grammar, Rudimenta Grammatices (1534).[2] Lily's grammar was being used in schools in England at that time, having been "prescribed" for them in 1542 by Henry VIII.[1] Although Bullokar wrote his grammar in English and used a "reformed spelling system" of his own invention, many English grammars, for much of the century after Bullokar's effort, were to be written in Latin; this was especially so for books whose authors were aiming to be scholarly.[1] Christopher Cooper's Grammatica Linguæ Anglicanæ (1685) was the last English grammar written in Latin.[3]
- The yoke of Latin grammar writing bore down oppressively on much of the early history of English grammars. Any attempt by one author to assert an independent grammatical rule for English was quickly followed by equal avowals by others of truth of the corresponding Latin-based equivalent.[4] Even as late as the early nineteenth century, Lindley Murray, the author of one of the most widely used grammars of the day, was having to cite "grammatical authorities" to bolster the claim that grammatical cases in English are different from those in Ancient Greek or Latin.[4]
- The focus on tradition, however, belied the role that other social forces had already begun to play in the early seventeenth century. In particular, increasing commerce, and the social changes it wrought, created new impetus for grammar writing.[4] On the one hand, greater British role in international trade created demand for English grammars for speakers of other languages. Many such grammars were published in various European languages in the second half of the seventeenth century.[4] On the other hand, English grammars began to reach a wider audience within Britain itself. They spread beyond their erstwhile readership of "learned," privileged, adult males to other groups of native speakers such as women, merchants, tradesmen, and even schoolboys.[4] Consequently, by the early eighteenth century, many grammars, such as John Brightland's A Grammar of the English tongue (1711) and James Greenwood's Essay towards a practical English grammar, were targeting people without "Latin background," including the "fair sex" and children.[4]
- If by the end of the seventeenth century English grammar writing had made a modest start, totaling 16 new grammars since Bullokar's Pamphlet of 115 years before, by the end of the eighteenth, the pace was positively brisk; 270 new titles were added during that century.[5] Both publishing and demand, moreover, would continue to mushroom. The first half of the nineteenth century would see the appearance of almost
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