Module 6 Flashcards
Grammar
-The structure of phrases and sentences in a language
-A broader topic
-Grammar classes are commonly taught from prescriptive perspective
-A word myay not aways belong to the same grammatical category
-Words can belong to different categories depending on context
~Consider the following sentences
*Swimming is my favorite sport
*I am swimming in the river
**In the first sentence, swimming is a noun
**In the second sentence, swimming is a verb
-It is possible to avoid a lot of these issues by separating semantics from grammatical structures
~look at the types of constructions or phrases (groupings of words) in which different types of words occur
~Focus on grammatical structure rather than the semantics (meanings) of the words
*Semantics (meaning) is different level of structure than grammar (organization of words and phrases)
*Modern linguistic approaches to grammar focus on words in terms of ‘syntactic categories,’ rather than ‘parts of speech’
**Remember ‘syntax’ refers to word order
Syntax
-Focused on word order patterns in language, specifically, and is one element of a language’s grammar
Prescriptive grammar
-Consider grammatical forms that are “preferable” compared to others
~In terms od social preference: you should use a certain grammatical form in order to sound ‘intelligent,’ ‘respectable,’ or ‘educated’
~Based on the idea that out of all the varieties of a language, there is one that is most ‘correct’ or ‘proper’
~What is “grammatical” is determined and reinforced by powerful social groups
Remember some of the prescriptive grammar rules
-You should not split an infinitive
~”I want to never sleep again” = No
-You should not end a sentence with a preposition
~”Where’d you get that from?” = No
-There is nothing about the structure of Latin grammar that makes it objectively ‘right’ or ‘better’ than the grammar of other languages
~There’s no reason to expect all languages to conform to Latin grammar patterns
~Perceptions of Latin as an ‘ideal’ form of language are based on social biases, not features of the language itself
-Similarly, a common argument against the use of double negatives in English is that it is not “mathematically logical”
~”Two negatives equal a positive! Show when you say “I don’t want no turkey,” you really mean “I want turkey!”” - says the impassioned prescriptivist
~What is not clear; however, is why language should be expected to operate like math
*And even in math, sometimes two negatives equal a negative
**Who decided that combining two phrases is like multiplication, and not like addition, instead?
Some languages prefer double negatives
-Spanish
~No tengo ninguno
~”I don’t have none”
~”I don’t have any”
~In some languages double negatives are required
*So there is no inherent linguistic reason to oppose them
*In fact, the prescriptive rules against double negatives in English correlate with social prejudices
The use of double negatives in English is associated with certain social groups
-Rural folks, particularly from the south and Appalachian regions
-Certain ethnic groups, like Hispanics and Africa Americans
-People who are uneducated
-People who speak English as a second language
~In American society, there are negative social stereotypes associated with these social groups
~Those negative social perceptive have been imposed on their ways of speaking as well
~”You don’t want to sound like an ignorant hillbilly, do you?” (Rude)
~”Do you even know how to speak your own language?” (Rude)
Prescriptive vs descriptive
-There ARE ‘rules’ to language
~people use language in very systematic ways
~There are underlying structural rules that speakers of language internalize and know
~These rules do not have to be imposed by an authority (teachers or government) speakers acquire them naturally by being exposed to languages
*If you are born into a community of English speakers, you do not have to go to school and take an English grammar class in order to speak English
**Although you might need to go to school to learn the prescriptive rules of English
-Consider the following two phrases
~Handle off broke door the
~The door handle broke off
~Which of these phrases would occur to English?
*There are not varieties of English that put words in the order shown in the first sentence
-How do we determine and describe a language’s grammar
~Prescriptivists
*Think about the way they and others they know use language
*Invent examples and counter-examples
*Decide what sounds correct?/proper (grammatical), and what sounds incorrect/improper (ungrammatical), in their opinion
**Typically an assortment of “grammar professionals” or “language authorities” will convene and decide what is right and wrong
**Often corresponding with what they themselves have internalized by being educated by other prescriptivists
~Descriptivist
*Describe language as it is used rather than making value judgments (goo/bad, proper/improper)
**Rather than saying “this sounds good” and “this sounds bad,” we look at data and determine: “some speakers use this structure sometimes” or “most speakers use this structure most of the time” or “after listening to a thousand different speakers of the language, there is no evidence that any of them use this structure”
*Grammar defined in terms of the structures that are actually used by speakers
**Any structure that is used and understood by native speakers of a language is considered grammatical
-Prescriptive view of grammar
~”Speakers of English should not split infinitives because it makes them sound uneducated.”
*Split infinitives are ungrammatical in English by prescriptivist standards
-Descriptive view of grammar
~”Many speakers of English do split infinitives when they speak, regardless of their level of education.”
*Split infinitives are grammatical in English by descriptivist standards
Parts of speech
-Distinctions are traditionally based on the semantics of the words (What they mean)
~This is the approach most people learn in a regular language arts curriculum
Noun
-Words that refer to people, objects, places, creatures, qualities, phenomena, abstract ideas, types of actions
~Boy, roughness, ideals, storm, school, swimming
Articles
-Words used to classify or identify nous
~A banana, THE apple, To swim, THIS, THAT
Adjectives
-Words used to describe nouns
~red, large, strange, tiny, shallow, uninteresting
Pronouns
-Words used in place of nouns, referring to things already established in the discourse
~he, she, it, they, us, we, them
Conjunctions
-Words used to make connections and indicate relationships between things and events
~For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
Verbs
-Words used to refer to actions and states (events)
~to be, to have, to throw, to kick, to swallow, to sleep
Adverbs
-Words that describe actions, states, and events. Can also be used to modify adjectives
~he sat QUIETLY, she did it YESTERDAY, REALLY fat cows don’t move much
