Grammar
{{two other uses||the rules of the English language|English grammar|the topic in math, logic and theoretical computer science|Formal grammar}}{{linguistics}}
Grammar is the field of
linguistics that covers the
rules governing the use of any given
natural language. It includes
morphology and
syntax, often complemented by
phonetics,
phonology,
semantics, and
pragmatics.
Each language has its own distinct grammar. "English grammar" is the rules of the English language itself. "
An English grammar" is a specific study or analysis of these rules. A
reference book describing the grammar of a language is called a "reference grammar" or simply "a grammar". A fully explicit grammar exhaustively describing the
grammatical constructions of a language is called a descriptive grammar, as opposed to
linguistic prescription which tries to enforce the governing rules how a language is to be used.
Grammatical frameworks are approaches to constructing grammars. The standard framework of
generative grammar is the
transformational grammar model developed by
Noam Chomsky and his followers from the 1950s to 1980s.
Etymology
{{see|grapheme}}The word "grammar," derives from
Greek γραμματική τέχνη (
grammatike techne), which means "art of letters," from
γράμμα (
gramma), "letter," and that from
γράφειν (
graphein), "to draw, to write"
(1).
History
{{see|History of linguistics}}The first systematic grammars originate in
Iron Age India, with
Yaska (6th c. BC),
Panini (4th c. BC) and his commentators
Pingala (ca. 200 BC),
Katyayana, and
Patanjali (2nd c. BC). In the West, grammar emerges as a discipline in
Hellenism from the 3rd c. BC forward with authors like
Rhyanus and
Aristarchus of Samothrace, the oldest extant work being the
Art of Grammar (), attributed to
Dionysius Thrax (ca. 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,
Aemilius Asper.
Tamil grammatical tradition also began around the 1st century BC with the
Tolkāppiyam.A grammar of
Irish originated in the 7th century with the
Auraicept na n-Éces.
Arabic grammar emerges from the 8th century with the work of
Ibn Abi Ishaq and his students.The first treatises on
Hebrew grammar appear in the
High Middle Ages, in the context of
Mishnah (exegesis of the
Hebrew Bible). The
Karaite tradition originates in
Abbasid Baghdad. The
Diqduq (10th century) is one of the earliest grammatical commentaries on the Hebrew Bible.
(2) Ibn Barun in the 12th century compares the Hebrew language with
Arabic in the
Islamic grammatical tradition.
(3)Belonging to the
trivium of the sevens
liberal arts, grammar wasn't taught as a core discipline throughout the
Middle Ages, following the influence of authors from
Late Antiquity, such as
Priscian. Treatment of vernaculars begins gradually during the
High Middle Ages, with isolated works such as the
First Grammatical Treatise, but becomes influential only in the
Renaissance and
Baroque periods. In
1486,
Antonio de Nebrija published
Las introduciones Latinas contrapuesto el romance al Latin, and the first
Spanish grammar,
Gramática de la lengua castellana, in 1492. During the 16th century
Italian Renaissance, the
Questione della lingua was the discussion on the status and ideal form of the
Italian language, initiated by
Dante's
de vulgari eloquentia (
Pietro Bembo,
Prose della volgar lingua Venice 1525). Grammars of non-European languages began to be compiled for the purposes of
evangelization and
Bible translation from the 16th century onward, such as
Grammatica o Arte de la Lengua General de los Indios de los Reynos del Perú (1560), and a
Quechua grammar by
Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás. In 1643 there appeared
Ivan Uzhevych's
Grammatica sclavonica and, in 1762, the
Short Introduction to English Grammar of
Robert Lowth was also published. The
Grammatisch-Kritisches Wörterbuch der hochdeutschen Mundart, a
High German grammar in five volumes by
Johann Christoph Adelung, appeared as early as 1774.From the latter part of the 18th century, grammar came to be understood as a subfield of the emerging discipline of modern
linguistics. The Serbian grammar by
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić arrived in 1814, while the
Deutsche Grammatik of the
Brothers Grimm was first published in 1818. The
Comparative Grammar of
Franz Bopp, the starting point of modern
comparative linguistics, came out in 1833.
Development of grammars
Grammars evolve through usage and also due to separations of the human population. With the advent of written
representations, formal rules about language usage tend to appear also. Formal grammars are
codifications of usage that are developed by repeated documentation over time, and by
observation as well. As the rules become established and developed, the prescriptive concept of grammatical correctness can arise. This often creates a discrepancy between contemporary usage and that which has been accepted, over time, as being correct. Linguists tend to believe that prescriptive grammars do not have any justification beyond their authors' aesthetic tastes; however, prescriptions are considered in
sociolinguistics as part of the explanation for why some people say "I didn't do nothing", some say "I didn't do anything", and some say one or the other depending on social context.The formal study of grammar is an important part of
education for children from a young age through advanced
learning, though the rules taught in schools are not a "grammar" in the sense most
linguists use the term, as they are often
prescriptive rather than
descriptive.
Constructed languages (also called planned languages or conlangs) are more common in the modern day. Many have been designed to aid human
communication (for example, naturalistic
Interlingua, schematic
Esperanto, and the highly logic-compatible artificial language
Lojban). Each of these languages has its own grammar.No clear line can be drawn between syntax and morphology.
Analytic languages use
syntax to convey information it it sexorder is not significant and
morphology is highly significant in a purely synthetic language, whereas morphology is not significant and syntax is highly significant in an analytic language.
Chinese and
Afrikaans, for example, are highly analytic, and meaning is therefore very context – dependent. (Both do have some inflections, and have had more in the past; thus, they are becoming even less synthetic and more "purely" analytic over time.)
Latin, which is highly
synthetic, uses
affixes and
inflections to convey the same information that Chinese does with
syntax. Because Latin words are quite (though not completely) self-contained, an intelligible Latin
sentence can be made from elements that are placed in a largely arbitrary order. Latin has a complex affixation and simple syntax, while Chinese has the opposite.
Grammar frameworks
Various "grammar frameworks" have been developed in
theoretical linguistics since the mid 20th century, in particular under the influence of the idea of a "
Universal grammar" in the United States. Of these, the main divisions are:
Education
{{see|orthography|literacy}}
Prescriptive grammar is taught in
primary school (
elementary school). The term "
grammar school" historically refers to schools teaching
Latin grammar to future priests. The
standard language taught contrasts with
dialects or
vernaculars which may be the objects of study in
descriptive grammar but which are not taught prescriptively. The standardized "
first language" taught in primary education may be subject to
political controversy, since it establishes a standard defining
nationality or
ethnicity.The pre-eminence of
Parisian
French has reigned largely unchallenged throughout the history of modern French literature. In
British English, the standard
Received Pronunciation is based on the language of the
upper classes in the
London area, and is based on the
sociolect that comes out of the British
private boarding schools. In the
United States, there are variations of
American English throughout but the
General American accent is considered unofficially standard because it is perceived as accentless by most Americans; it is based on Midwestern English and is closest to the accent of
Omaha,
Nebraska. Standard
Italian is not based on the speech of the capital,
Rome, but on the speech of
Florence due to the influence of Florentines had on early
Italian literature. Similarly, standard
Spanish is not based on the speech of
Madrid, but on the one by educated speakers from more northerly areas like
Castile and León. In
Argentina and
Uruguay the Spanish standard is based on the local dialects of
Buenos Aires and
Montevideo (
Rioplatense Spanish).
Portuguese has two official written standards, respectively
Brazilian Portuguese and
European Portuguese.
Norwegian has two standards,
Bokmål and
Nynorsk the choice between which is subject to
controversy: Each Norwegian municipality can declare one of the two its official language, or it can remain "language neutral". Nynorsk is endorsed by a minority of 27% of the municipalities. The main language used in primary schools normally follows the official language of its municipality, and is decided by referendum within the local school district.
Standard German emerged out of the standardized chancellery use of
High German in the 16th to 17th centuries, until about 1800 almost entirely a written language but now so widely spoken that most former
German dialects are near-extinct.
Standard Mandarin has official status as the standard spoken form of the
Chinese language in the
People's Republic of China (PRC), the
Republic of China (ROC) and the
Republic of Singapore. Pronunciations of Standard Mandarin is based on the
Beijing dialect of
Mandarin Chinese, while grammar and syntax are based on modern
vernacular Chinese.
Modern Standard Arabic is directly based on
Classical Arabic, the language of the
Qur'an. The
Hindustani language has two standards,
Hindi and
Urdu.In the
United States, the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar has designated March 4, 2008 as National Grammar Day.
(4)See also
Notes and references
-
[Online Etymology Dictionary]
-
[G.Khan , J. B. Noah, The Early Karaite Tradition of Hebrew Grammatical Thought (2000)]
-
[Pinchas Wechter, Ibn Barūn's Arabic Works on Hebrew Grammar and Lexicography (1964)]
-
[National Grammar Day]
- American Academic Press, The (ed.). William Strunk, Jr., et al. The Classics of Style: The Fundamentals of Language Style From Our American Craftsmen. Cleveland: The American Academic Press, 2006. ISBN 0978728203.
- Rundle, Bede. Grammar in Philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. ISBN 0198246129.
External links
{{Wiktionary}}
Grammatikaስዋሰውنحوব্যাকরণ(be-x-old:Граматыка)
GramatikaGramàticaGramatikaGramadegGrammatikGrammatikGrammatikaΓραμματικήGramáticaGramatikoGramatikaدستور زبانGrammaireGrammatikaGramática(zh-classical:語法)
문법Քերականությունव्याकरणGramatikaTata bahasaGrammaticaMálfræðiGrammaticaדקדוקგრამატიკაRêzimanArs grammaticaGramatikaGramatikaNyelvtanГраматикаमराठी व्याकरणGrammatica文法GrammatikkGrammatikGramatykaGramáticaGramaticăSimi kamachiyГрамматика (наука)व्याकरणGramatikaGrammarGramatika (jazykoveda)SlovnicaГраматикаKielioppiGrammatikஇலக்கணம் (மொழியியல்)ไวยากรณ์Ngữ phápDil bilgisiГраматикаגראמאטיק(zh-yue:文法)(bat-smg:Gramatėka)
语法
(...as imported from WP)
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