Introduction to Linguistics Ms. Suha Jawabreh

Lecture 18

The Components of Language

1. Sounds – Phonetics and Phonology

2. Words – Morphology

3. Phrases and sentences- Syntax

4. Meaning- Semantics and Pragmatics

What is Grammar?

Grammar is a set of rules that govern the composition of words, phrases and clauses.

-If we have the three words : boys, lucky and the , grammar will allow us to have :

The lucky boys

-This phrase would be referred to as grammatical.

- However , the following combinations of words are referred to as ungrammatical.

- *Boys the lucky - *lucky boys the

What are the types of grammar?

1. Mental grammar:

-Mental grammar describes how speakers produce and understand linguistic expressions.

- This grammar is sub-conscious and not

the result of any teaching.

- Psychologists study this type of grammar.

2. Proper grammar

-This type of grammar involves what would be considered as ‘ linguistic etiquette’.

- It identifies what best structures to be used in a language.

- Sociolinguists study this type of grammar.

3. Language grammar

-It involves the study and analysis of the structures found in a language.

- Linguists study this type of grammar

Language Grammar

There are two approaches which were used in grammatical description :

1. The prescriptive approach 2. The descriptive approach

Prescriptive approach

1. It involves labelling the grammatical categories in sentences ( traditional grammar)

2. It sets out rules for the correct or ‘proper’ use of a languge.

Traditional Grammar- In traditional grammar, many traditional

terms are used in a grammatical description:

Examples: Parts of speech , number, person , tense,

voice, gender (natural gender & grammatical gender)

Prescriptive rules

In this approach , grammarians decide what the correct use of language, not speakers of the language.

Examples of prescriptive rules: a. You must not split an infinitive. *to slowly driveb. You must not end a sentence with a

preposition. *This is the girl I gave the book to.

Other examples that would be considered ‘improper’ to prescriptive grammarians:

* Mary runs faster than me

*Who did you see?

The Descriptive Approach A descriptive grammar looks at the way a language

is actually used by its speakers and then attempts to analyse it and formulate rules about the structure.

- Descriptive grammar does not deal with what is good or bad language use; forms and structures.

- It is a grammar based on the way a language actually is and not how some think it should be.     

What is the difference between the descriptive approach and the prescriptive approach?

- Unlike the descriptive approach, The prescriptive approach deals with what the grammarians believe to be right and wrong, good or bad language use; not following the rules will generate incorrect language.

Types of descriptive approach

1.Structural Analysis 2.Immediate constituent

analysis.

Structural Analysis

-This method involves the use of ‘ test-frames’ which can be sentences with empty slots in them:

The ___________ makes a lot of noise.I heard a ____________ yesterday.

- There are a lot of forms that can fit into the slots. (E.g. Car ,dog, child ,radio).

- All of these examples are NOUNS.

- However, there are nouns that do not fit into these slots. (E.g. Cathy , it , the dog, the car)

- Therefore , new test-frames are required:______________ makes a lot of noiseI heard ___________ yesterday.

Immediate Constituent Analysis

- This approach involves dividing linguistic expressions into constituents:

- 1. at the word level - 2. at the phrase level - 3. At the sentence level

Examples: - Mary ate an apple

- The dog followed the boy

- I left the book on the table

Another example:

1. Her father brought a shotgun to the wedding.