The term Grammar has been assigned different patterns of meaning. These include:

1. Grammar as a Set of Rules

Grammar is a set of rules that regulate the composition of words and phrases in a language. These rules differ depending on the language. However, they all explain sentence structure.

2. Grammar as a Field of Study

Grammar is also the name of a field of learning that investigates the formal or abstract features of a language and the rules governing their combination, reference, as well as interpretation.

3. Grammar as Prescriptive Rules

Grammar can be defined as a body of prescriptive rules specifying what is correct to say and what is not correct in a language.

History of Grammar (English Grammar)

In the history of grammar, the first stage of the development of English grammar began at the start of the 16th century (exam question), with the publication of a book titled:

Pamphlet for Grammar by Bullokar (exam question)

Important Notes

  1. Pamphlet for Grammar by Bullokar (exam question)
  2. 16th century (exam question)

During the late 17th century, 16 new grammars were introduced. These were based on the Pamphlet for Grammar. Early works or books, structures, as well as rules of English grammar were based on those of the Latin language. The incorporation of philosophy into English grammar, which is a modern approach, was introduced in the 19th century.

Grammar can be utilized in the following ways:

  1. The recognition of grammatical structures is necessary for punctuation, which makes the structure of the English language without double meaning.
  2. The study of a person’s native grammar aids when such a person studies the grammar of a foreign language (exam question).
  3. The knowledge of grammar helps in the understanding of other levels of language analysis, which include morphology, semantics, and pragmatics.

Traditional Grammar

This is the oldest form of grammar. It implies the collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of language. It is usually applied in language teaching in schools.

It is also known as pedagogic grammar (exam question).

It bases its grammar on that of Latin. Traditional grammar classifies words into parts of speech, describes the patterns for word inflection (what you add to words like -ed, -d, -s, etc. — words added to make it work in past or present tense), and the rules of syntax through which words are combined into sentences.

Traditional grammar is prescriptive in nature and prefers the written form to the spoken form of language. It is concerned with the structure of sentences.

Finally, it creates the assumption that there is a standard English grammar; therefore, it should be taught in schools as their responsibility.

Weaknesses of Traditional Grammar

  1. It is prescriptive in nature — it sets down rules for speakers of a language.
  2. Grammatical categories are based on those of Greek and Latin, which prevents the development of other languages and is inadequate for describing them.
  3. Traditional grammar is restricted mainly to syntax (structure).

Structural Grammar

Structural grammar was developed in the 19th century by Ferdinand de Saussure in langue (the idle concept) vs parole (the language in action).

Ferdinand de Saussure is regarded as the father of structural grammar.

Structural grammar is an improvement in the analysis of grammar. It studies grammar by analyzing the relationship among words in a sentence.

The focus in structural grammar is on clusters or structures — that is, sounds, forms, word groups, phrases, etc.

Structural grammar introduced form class (exam question), which is wider than parts of speech (exam question). Determiners such as the, a, an, every, etc., can be placed before nouns in English sentences. (Parts of speech were introduced by traditional grammar.)

Moreover, immediate constituent, which is a top-down process of analysis, is a brainchild of structural grammar. Therefore, a sentence is seen as a constituent structure, while all the components of the sentence structure are its constituents (exam question).

When the sentence is divided into sections, each section is its immediate constituent. This is referred to as immediate constituent analysis.

Features of Structural Grammar

  1. It employs the scientific method of data analysis.
  2. It believes in language specificity, since languages vary in their features.
  3. Structural grammar distinguishes between la langue and la parole.
  4. It believes that language is a system of speech sounds.

Limitations in structural grammar

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