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|natural language]]. It includes [[morphology (linguistics)|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 [[grammaticality|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 framework]]s 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== The word "grammar," derives from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''γραμματική τέχνη'' (''grammatike techne''), which means "art of letters," from ''γράμμα'' (''gramma''), "letter," and that from ''γράφειν'' (''graphein''), "to draw, to write"[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=grammar&searchmode=none Online Etymology Dictionary]. ==History== {{see|History of linguistics}} The first systematic grammars originate in [[Iron Age India]], with [[Panini (grammarian)|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]]'' ({{lang|grc|Τέχνη Γραμματική}}), 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 [[Old Irish|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.G.Khan , J. B. Noah, ''The Early Karaite Tradition of Hebrew Grammatical Thought'' (2000) [[Ibn Barun]] in the 12th century compares the Hebrew language with [[Arabic language|Arabic]] in the [[Islamic grammatical tradition]].Pinchas Wechter, Ibn Barūn's Arabic Works on Hebrew Grammar and Lexicography (1964) Belonging to the ''trivium'' of the seven [[liberal arts]], grammar was 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. In the [[USA]], the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar has designated March 4, 2008 as National Grammar Day.[http://nationalgrammarday.com/ National Grammar Day] ==Development of grammars== {{main|Historical linguistics}} Grammars evolve through usage, and grammars also develop due to separations of the human population. With the advent of written [[Knowledge representation|representation]]s, formal rules about language usage tend to appear also. Formal grammars are [[codification (linguistics)|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 [[linguistics|linguists]] use the term, as they are often [[prescriptive]] rather than [[descriptive]]. [[Constructed language]]s (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 that is encoded via [[inflection]] in [[synthetic language]]s. In other words, word order is not significant and [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] is highly significant in a purely synthetic language, whereas morphology is not significant and syntax is highly significant in an analytic language. [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Afrikaans language|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 language|synthetic]], uses [[affix]]es and [[inflection]]s to convey the same information that Chinese does with [[syntax]]. Because Latin words are quite (though not completely) self-contained, an intelligible Latin [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]] can be made from elements that are placed in a largely arbitrary order. Latin has a complex affixation and a simple syntax, while Chinese has the opposite. ==Grammar frameworks== {{main|Grammar framework}} 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 USA. Of these, the main divisions are: *[[Transformational grammar]] (TG)) *[[Principles and Parameters|Principles and Parameters Theory]] (P&P) *[[Lexical functional grammar|Lexical-functional Grammar]] (LFG) *[[Generalised Phrase Structure Grammar|Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar]] (GPSG) *[[Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar]] (HPSG) *[[Dependency grammar]]s (DG) *[[Role and reference grammar]] (RRG) ==See also== * [[:Category:Grammars of specific languages]] * [[Ambiguous grammar]] * [[Fremdsprachen und Hochschule]] * [[Government and binding]] * [[Higher-order grammar]] * [[Linguistic typology]] * [[Syntax]] * [[Systemic functional grammar]] * [[Universal grammar]] * [[Role and reference grammar]] == Notes and references == {{Reflist}} {{refbegin}} * 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. {{refend}} ==External links== {{Wiktionary}} *[http://pt.wikibooks.org/wiki/Grammar:_%C3%8Dndice English Grammar (Gramática da Língua Inglesa)], [[wikibooks|wikibook]] in [[English (language)|English]] and [[Portuguese (language)|Portuguese]] * [http://www.roadtogrammar.com Online Grammar Practice] [[Category:Grammar| ]] [[Category:Fiction]] [[Category:Style (fiction)]] [[Category:Greek loanwords]] [[af:Grammatika]] [[als:Grammatik]] [[am:ስዋሰው]] [[ar:نحو]] [[an:Gramatica]] [[ast:Gramática]] [[bn:ব্যাকরণ]] [[be-x-old:Граматыка]] [[bs:Gramatika]] [[br:Yezhadur]] [[bg:Граматика]] [[ca:Gramàtica]] [[cv:Грамматика]] [[cs:Mluvnice]] [[cy:Gramadeg]] [[da:Grammatik]] [[de:Grammatik]] [[et:Grammatika]] [[el:Γραμματική]] [[es:Gramática]] [[eo:Gramatiko]] [[eu:Gramatika]] [[fa:دستور زبان]] [[fr:Grammaire]] [[gl:Gramática]] [[zh-classical:語法]] [[ka:გრამატიკა]] [[ko:문법]] [[hy:Քերականություն]] [[hi:व्याकरण]] [[hr:Gramatika]] [[io:Gramatiko]] [[id:Tata bahasa]] [[ia:Grammatica]] [[is:Málfræði]] [[it:Grammatica]] [[he:דקדוק]] [[ku:Rêziman]] [[la:Ars grammatica]] [[lv:Gramatika]] [[lt:Gramatika]] [[jbo:gerna]] [[hu:Nyelvtan]] [[mk:Граматика]] [[mr:मराठी व्याकरण]] [[nl:Grammatica]] [[ja:文法]] [[no:Grammatikk]] [[nn:Grammatikk]] [[nov:Gramatike]] [[nds:Grammatik]] [[pl:Gramatyka]] [[pt:Gramática]] [[kaa:Grammatika]] [[ro:Gramatică]] [[qu:Simi kamachiy]] [[ru:Грамматика]] [[sa:व्‍याकरण]] [[sco:Grammar]] [[simple:Grammar]] [[sk:Gramatika (jazykoveda)]] [[sl:Slovnica]] [[sr:Граматика]] [[fi:Kielioppi]] [[sv:Grammatik]] [[th:ไวยากรณ์]] [[vi:Ngữ pháp]] [[tpi:Grama]] [[tr:Dil bilgisi]] [[uk:Граматика]] [[wa:Croejhete (linwince)]] [[yi:גראמאטיק]] [[bat-smg:Gramatėka]] [[zh-yue:文法]] [[zh:语法]]