Grammar and its Relation to Other Linguistic Genres - Essay Example

Definition of grammar and its relation to other linguistic genres such as morphology, phonology, semantics 2009 OUTLINE: A) The notion of grammar in its broad and narrow sense B) Grammar and its relation to morphology, phonology and semantics C) Generative, universal and traditional grammars D) Conclusion The main tasks of linguists have been the writing of grammar books and dictionaries. Both grammars and dictionaries reflect important aspects of language: dictionaries provide the elementary building blocks, and the grammars specify how these blocks are combined to make well-formed utterances. As we know each language has its own distinct grammar. Grammar in its broad sense is a systematic analysis of the structure of a language at its different levels (phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic). It is the analysis of linguistic patterns with regard to their form, meaning, and function. (Aitchison, 1993 p. 125) Respectively, grammar can be formal, notional, and functional. Formal grammar concentrates on the study of linguistic forms; it may apply formalized techniques of logic and mathematics. Notional, or semantic, grammar studies the meaning of linguistic patterns; it assumes the existence of extralinguistic categories in order to define grammatical units. Formal and notional grammars are competence grammars that center on the speaker’s knowledge of language (the rules the speaker must know to use the language properly). Competence grammar contrasts with functional grammar which studies the use of linguistic patterns in speech and writing. Competence grammars are primarily linguocentric; they study the language without its relation to the speakers and the situation of speech. Performance grammars are mostly anthropocentric; they consider the linguistic patterns used in speech and influenced by the characteristics of the speakers and the communicative situations. Lingocentric and anthropocentric grammars can be practical and theoretical. Practical, or normative, grammars are prescriptive; they attempt to establish rules for the correct use of language in society. The speakers of language use practical grammars as reference books. Theoretical grammars are descriptive; they provide a precise account of language in its actual usage. A theoretical grammar may go beyond the study of individual languages, in which case it uses linguistic data as a means of developing insights into the nature of language as such, and into the categories and processes needed for linguistic analysis. (Aitchison, 1993 p. 148) Theoretical grammars describing the linguistic patterns at a particular period of time are called synchronic grammars. Synchronic grammars comparing the systems of two or more languages are called comparative grammars. Along with synchronic grammars, there are diachronic, or historical, grammars that describe the change of linguistic patterns through time. Historical comparative grammars provide a parallel account of historical changes exposed in the systems of two or more languages. Grammar in its narrow sense is a level of structural organization which can be studied independently of phonology and lexicology. In this case, grammar is generally divided into morphology and syntax. (Aitchison, 1993 p. 164) Morphology studies grammatical properties of words and pieces of words. The central issue of morphology is a grammatical word. Although everybody seems to know what a word is, its definition poses problems. The most uncontroversial criterion for differentiating between separate words and parts of one and the same word is functional indivisibility of a word. The units are considered to be individual words if they can be separated by another word, e.g. Engl. a black cat, to better understand. The units are considered to be parts of one and the same word if they cannot be separated by another word, e.g. Engl. work-ed – *work-better-ed, apple-tree – *apple-large-tree. (Jack Hoeksma, 1985 p. 54) Phonology is the study of the interaction of speech sounds. While phonetics studies material, or physical, sounds of speech, phonology studies sound types, or abstract sounds of language. Phonology highlights the functions of sound types, i.e. their ability to differentiate between meanings. For example, if you may be asked to comment on a text that you are seeing for the first time in terms of various language descriptions, of which phonology may be one. At one extreme, phonology is concerned with anatomy and physiology - the organs of speech and how we learn to use them. At another extreme, phonology shades into socio-linguistics as we consider social attitudes to features of sound such as accent and intonation. And part of the phonology is concerned with finding objective standard ways of recording speech, and representing this symbolically (Thomas E. Murray, 1994 p.67) Semantics is a component or level of linguistics of the same kind as phonetics or grammar. Moreover, nearly all linguists have explicitly or implicitly, accepted a linguistic model in which semantics is at one end and phonetics at the other, with grammar somewhere in the middle. (Palmer, 1976 p. 45) Semantics is the study of meaning in language. Lexical semantics is the study of word meanings. Semantics is important for understanding language in social contexts, as these are likely to affect meaning, and for understanding varieties of English and effects of style. It is thus one of the most fundamental concepts in linguistics. The status of linguistic genres such as morphology, phonology, semantics in the whole modal of grammar and its relations to each other varies considerably depending on the theory. Linguists who work within the framework of grammar strive to develop a general theory that reveals the rules and laws that govern the structure of particular languages, and the general laws and principles governing all natural languages. They insist on the theory that Grammar encompasses morphology (the formation and composition of words), syntax (the rules that determine how words combine into phrases and sentences) and phonology (the study of sound systems and abstract sound units). With one of its key assumptions, Optimality Theory represented by Prince and Smolensky in 1993 collapses the morphology-phonology distinction. In Distributed Morphology, on the other hand, morphology has its own significance, serving as a bridge between syntax and phonology. That’s why there exist a question of how morphology and phonology should be distinguished. Since Optimality Theory advocates a representational view of grammar and, Distributed Morphology, a derivational view of grammar, an important question is how the whole grammar organized. So Optimality Theory is primarily concerned with phonology and Distributed Morphology is particularly syntax-oriented theory of morphology-phonology and syntax are usually studied independently. (Kager Rene, 1999 p. 122) There is a prove that these two theories can coexist. The following is the modal of grammar assumed in Determined Morphology: 1) Lexicon Syntax Morphology Phonology In the above modal, syntax and phonology are not directly connected. Instead morphology intervenes between them, serving as a bridge. As concrete examples, consider the following Japanese examples: 2) a. taka-i b. ik-u c. mi-ru high-Pres go-Pres see-Pres As the present marker, [i] is used for adjectives (a), [u] for C-final verbs(b), and [ru] for V-final verbs (c). These three allomorphs are differential in a pretheoretical manner as follows: 3) [-past] < -- lexicon and syntax 3 Read More