In linguistics, grammar is fundamentally defined as the system of rules that governs how a natural language is structured and used by its speakers or writers. These rules can encompass various aspects of language, including the proper use of clauses, phrases, and individual words. Beyond being a system of rules, the term "grammar" can also refer to the academic study of these rules. This field of study is broad, incorporating elements such as phonology
(the study of sound systems), morphology (the study of word structure), and syntax (the study of sentence structure), alongside phonetics, semantics (the study of meaning), and pragmatics (the study of language in context).
Two Approaches to Grammar: Traditional and Theoretical
There are two primary ways to approach the study of grammar: traditional grammar and theoretical grammar. Traditional grammar often focuses on prescriptive rules, aiming to define how language *should* be used, often based on established literary or formal standards. In contrast, theoretical grammar, a more modern linguistic approach, seeks to describe how language *is* actually used by its speakers, without necessarily imposing judgments about correctness. This descriptive approach aims to uncover the underlying systems and patterns inherent in language.
A description, study, or analysis of these rules can also be referred to as a grammar, or more specifically, a grammar book. A reference work that details the grammar of a particular language is known as a reference grammar. When a grammar fully reveals and describes the grammatical constructions of a specific speech type in great detail, it is called a descriptive grammar. This descriptive linguistic approach stands in contrast to linguistic prescription, which involves a plan to marginalize certain linguistic constructions while codifying others, often within the framework of a standard language.
The Core Components: Morphology and Syntax
Grammar is often understood as a system of categories and a set of rules that dictate how these categories combine to form different aspects of meaning. Two central components of grammar are morphology and syntax. Morphology is the study of the internal structure of complex words and the processes by which words are formed. For example, the English word "unexpected" can be broken down into three morphemes: "un-", "expect", and "-ed". Morphemes are the smallest meaningful units in a language, and they can be either free (like "expect") or bound (like "un-" or "-ed", which must attach to other morphemes).
Syntax, on the other hand, deals with the rules governing the internal structure of phrases and sentences. It determines how words are ordered and combined to create meaningful utterances. For instance, English syntax dictates that "I love you" is a meaningful sentence, while "*love you I" is not. Syntactical rules define how word order and sentence structure are constrained and how these constraints contribute to meaning. Together, morphology and syntax provide the framework for understanding how meaningful elements within a language are combined to form coherent and communicative expressions.
