The words of every language are divided into several word classes, or parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs and adjectives etc. The words of a given class exhibit two or more forms in somewhat different grammatical circumstances. These forms are not interchangeable and each can be used only in a given grammatical situation. This variation in form is required by the existence of a grammatical category applying to that class of words. Thus a grammatical category is "a linguistic category which has the effect of modifying the forms of some class of words in a language" (Trask). For example, English nouns have the grammatical category of number. Thus the singular `dog' and the plural `dogs' exist but are not interchangeable in a sentence. A noun can be used only in its singular or plural form as there is no possibility of another form. English adjectives vary for degree; verbs for tense; pronouns for case etc.
Traditional grammarians divide the words of English into eight classes or parts of speech- noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, preposition, conjunction, adverb and interjection. The words of a particular class can have two or more forms in different grammatical circumstances because of the existence of a grammatical category. Grammatical categories are an essential part of traditional grammar especially of the classical languages. As English is modelled on the grammar of Latin, it follows the system of Latin. The most common grammatical categories in English are gender, number, person, tense, mood, voice and case.
The grammatical category applying to the English nouns is number. Therefore we have the singular `dog' and the plural dogs'. Most of the nouns in the English follow the same pattern. These forms are no...
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...se forms are not interchangeable and are mutually exclusive. This variation in form is required by the existence of a grammatical category applying to that class of words. Thus a grammatical category causes a change in the form of a word. The most common grammatical categories in English are gender, number, person, tense, mood, voice and case. Other categories like aspect, modality and deictic category are also present in English. Grammatical categories were important in the classical languages. Since English grammar was modelled on the Latin grammar system some importance is still given to the grammatical categories in English.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hockett, Charles F. A Course in Modern Linguistics. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1970.
Palmer, Frank. Grammar. Middlesex: Penguin, 1971.
Trask, R.L. Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. London : Routledge, 2004.
First, a brief background in the three dimensions of language discussed throughout this paper. The functional, semantic, or thematic dimensions of language as previously mentioned are often used in parallel with each other. Due, to this fact it is important to be able to identify them as they take place and differentiate between these dimensions i...
3. Although conservatives advocate syntax, linguists say that we need morphology. Morphology is the most basic grammar which deals with
For example, “ To say ‘John said Pip hit the fence’ you could say the equivalent of ‘Pip say John hit fence’, ‘Fence say John hit Pep’ … or any other of the 120 possible word orders” (Bauer, 78). This show that if there is no grammar, there would be no rule for the word placement and when we say it, the listener wouldn’t know what is our intended. The author proves that this myth is wrong because if there is no grammar, there wouldn’t be rules for word placement, no difference between nouns and verbs, wouldn’t be possible to mark the different of the tune of the sentence and so on. Every language has their own grammar, the only difference is that some might have more grammar than other while some have don’t much as the other such as the ending and word order that is different in each language: Latin makes extensive use of ending, Chinese use word order and English use fixed word order. The main idea of this myth is when we say there is no grammar, we mean there is no grammar book that written all the rules for that particular language. So if we start writing down all the rules, Every language has their own grammar because it exists in the head of the speaker. Even the grammar is different but the language still capable to express the same range of structure
Despite the fact that English is considered one language, there are many regional varieties called dialects spoken all over the world. Although these dialects are mutually intelligible by English speakers, they are quite different. For example, British English is markedly different than American English. British speakers pronounce words differently and use a different vocabulary. Some words and phrases have different meanings in American English versus British English. One example is the word “bathroom.” If an American were to ask where the bathroom is in a British home, they might be sent to a room with a bath and no toilet, which is probably not what the American wanted. The two dialects may even differ in grammar in some cases. For example, “gotten” is considered correct in American English, but in British English, “got” is used.
Language, according to Owens (2012, p. 6), “can be defined as a socially shared code or conventional system for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule-governed combinations of those symbols”. Language is thought to be a complex system; however, it can be broken down into three different components. These three components consist of content, form, and use. Within these three components, language has five main components which includes semantics, morphology, phonology, syntax, and pragmatics (Owens, 2012, p. 18).
Curzan, Anne and Adams, Michael. How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006
In this essay I intend to investigate how differently one of the closed word classes, determiners, are approached in a series of pre and post corpus-based English grammar reference books, course books and practice books. And the theme of my investigation is how corpus affects the development of English teaching materials. The grammar reference books I intend to analyze and compare are “A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language” (ACGEL) and “Cambridge Grammar of English” (CGE). The former is an indispensable grammar reference book first published in 1985, which has been widely consulted in researches in relation to English linguistic studies, while the later offers clear explanations of both spoken and written English grammar based on authentic everyday usage.
Words and Morphemes The Morpheme In order to describe the form of the linguistic expressions (phrases, sentences, texts) in a language, we must describe how those complex expressions are built from smaller parts, until ultimately we which the atoms of linguistic form. The term morpheme is used to refer to an atom of linguistic form. Most languages have a word, like the English word 'word', that appears at first to refer to precisely the sorts of minimal linguistic objects we have in mind. But there are two reasons to reject 'word' as the label for the minimal unit of linguistic form.
When grammar is put to use in a society, people will often have different beliefs at what is the "right" or "proper" usage. This had led to the formation of two widely accepted forms of grammar, Prescriptivism and Descriptivism. These forms will often separate those who believe their form of grammar is the only correct way from those who use many forms they find to be acceptable. Descriptive grammar is formed by analyzing how speakers use a language, and deducing the rules they follow. Linguists create descriptive grammars in order to understand language more deeply. They understand that a single language can have multiple dialects, and that each dialect will have its own grammatical rules--internally
A large part of an English teacher’s job deals with helping students find their own voices amidst the many teachings of their parents and peers. A student’s voice can be their values, their interests, and their perspectives of the world in which they live. Their voice can be their critical questioning of the many situations they face, whether in a text, the school cafeteria, or a park after school. It is the job of an English teacher to aid in finding this voice through their writing. It is by putting words and thoughts down on paper that a student can sometimes feel comfortable enough to take risks and find their true voices. Although traditional grammar instruction has long been thought to improve this skill, this is no longer the case. Instead, by providing a classroom environment in which students are immersed in classic literature from many genres including poetry, short stories, and novels, students will learn how to harness grammar for their own purposes of finding their voice in their writing.
Analogical change can also occur on the morphological markers of a word, such as verb agreements. This change can be observed between the Old English and Modern English conjugation of the verb to sing and impacts the complexity of the paradigm, making the Modern English form recognisably more uniform.
North, S. (2012), 'English a Linguistic Toolkit' (U214, Worlds of English), Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Have you ever wondered where the names of the different items you use daily came from? Or listened to people talk and find a particular word interesting or odd and wonder why it has become part of our English language? The English language that we speak today has developed as a result of many different influences and changes over thousands of years. The resulting changes to the English language can be split into three time periods that include, Old English or Anglo-Saxon, Middle English and Modern English which is commonly used today
The other part of computational linguistics is called applied computational linguistics which focuses on the practical outcome of modeling human language use. The methods, techniques, tools, and applications in this area are often subsumed under the term language engineering or (human language technology. The current computational linguistic systems are far from achieving human ability of communicating they have numerous applications. The goal for this is to eventually have a computer program that will have the same communication skills as a human being. Once this is achieved it will open doors never thought possible in computing. After all the major problem today with computing is communication with the computer. Today’s computers don’t really understand our language and it is very difficult to learn computer language, plus computer language doesn’t correspond to the structure of human thought.
An important linguistic change was also in syntax. Syntax governs the structure of a sentence, as well as the structure of verbs. Auxiliary verbs came into use, for example the use of do and have which extended the capability of expression for verbs. The subtle differences between I walk, I do walk, and I am walking are not available in many other languages. This improvement assisted English in differentiating itself from other languages.