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0w.net 【摘 要】当代英语语法流派可以粗略地分为三大类:规定性语法、描述性语法和解释性语法。本文简单介绍了各类语法的起源、基本概念
及其主要特点,并提出了作者对怎样正确对待传统语法的观点。
【关键词】英语语法;分类;规定性语法;描述性语法;解释性语法
【Abstract】TheprincipalschoolsofcontemporaryEnglishgrammarmayroughlybedividedintothreemajorclasses:PrescriptiveGrammar,
DescriptiveGrammarandExplanatoryGrammar.Thisarticlebrieflyintroducestheirorigins,basicconceptsandmaincharacteristics,andgivesthe
author’sopiniononhowweshouldproperlythinkofTraditionalGrammar.
【Keywords】Engilshgrammar;classification;prescriptivegrammar;descriptivegrammar;explanatorygrammar
Introduction:Fromthelinguisticpointofview,Englishlanguage,
likeanyotherlivinglanguageintheworld,consistsofthreeessential
elements:pronunciation,vocabularyandgrammar.
Pronunciationisthematerialoutershellofalanguage,orthe
materialforminwhichalanguageexists.Vocabularyreferstoallthe
constructionsofalanguage.Grammardealswiththesystematiclawsand
rulesofalanguage,includingitsforms,inflexionsandwaystomake
sentences.Grammarisoftencomparedtotheplasterandskeletondesigns
ofbuildingofalanguage.
Letusdrawananalogysoastomakeclearertherelationbetween
thethreebasicelements.Supposingalanguageisabuilding,then
pronunciationisitsoutershape,vocabularyisthematerialofconstruction
(suchasbrick,tile,reinforcebars,cement,etc.)andgrammarisjustlike
thedesignsandtechniquesofconstruction.
Amongthethreeessentialelements,pronunciation,asthematerial
basisoftheexistenceofalanguage,isprimary;vocabularyliesonthe
centralpositionastheothertwoareexpressedbymeansofit,while
grammaristheusefulandnecessarytoolforustostudyandusea
language.Withoutit,wewouldfeelitquitedifficulttousealanguage
correctly,especiallyaforeignlanguage.Forastudentorateacherof
English,itisstillmorenecessarytostudygrammar.
Accordingtothedevelopmentofgrammar,theprincipalschoolsof
contemporaryEnglishgrammarmayroughlybedividedintothreemajor
classes: Prescriptive Grammar, Descriptive Grammar and
ExplanatoryGrammar.Hereisasketchyintroductiontosomeofthem:
A.PrescriptiveGrammar
PrescriptivegrammaroriginatedinancientGreektimesofPlatoand
Aristotle.Atthattime,grammarwasonlytreatedasthetoolofenjoying
literature,andthechangesoflanguagewerelookeduponasdecayand
degeneration.Theancientformsofalanguagewereheldinesteemand
thegrammarianstriedtokeepthemfixedandunchanged.Prescriptive
grammarmainlyconsistsoftwoparts:MorphologyandSyntax.Therewere
eightpartsofspeechandaseriesofgrammaticalrulesbasedonLatin
grammarwithagreatnumberofillustrationsfrom theworksofsome
famouswriters.
AllPrescriptiveGrammarschoolshavesuchcommoncharacteristics
asbelow:www.freetem4tem8.cn
a.Thegrammarrulesaremadeonthebasisoflogicalreasoning(just
likeLatingrammar),andusedtodecidewhetheracertainlanguage
phenomenoniscorrectornot.
b.ThesystemisdividedintoMorphologyandSyntax.
c.Theanalysisofsentenceismademoreorlessaccordingtotheir
meanings(thusalsocalled“notionalgrammar”).Itisemphasizedthatone
languageformexpressesonlyoneconceptofidea.
ThemainschoolsofPrescriptiveGrammarare:
a.SchoolGrammar---theonecompiledforteachingalanguagein
th th
schoolsfromthe18centurytothe20century.
b.PracticalGrammar---theoneusedtomaster,ormoreexactly,to
helpthecommandofaforeignlanguage.
c.TraditionalGrammar---allthegrammarschoolsdifferentfrom
DescriptiveGrammarandExplanatoryGrammar.Thoughlastingforover
2,000years,ithasnoactualdefinition.Generallyspeaking,itrefersto
theterms,rules,conceptsandtheoriestakenandcarriedonfromthe
th
worksof18centuryprescriptivegrammarandthoseafterwards.
B.DescriptiveGrammar
th
DescriptiveGrammarcameintobringinthelate19 centuryand
th
theearly20century.Thedescriptivegrammariansthinkthatlanguageis
alwayschanginganddeveloping,andthatdifferentlanguageshave
differentfeaturesoftheirown,sotheyobjecttoapplyingLatingrammar
mechanically.Theyinsistupondescribingobjectivelyandindetailthe
practicaluseofalanguage,andanalyzingitaccordingtoitsstructures
andfunctions.Itisemphasizedthatoneconceptofideacanbeexpressed
indifferentways.
SomemainschoolsofDescriptiveGrammar:
a.StructuralGrammar---thechiefviewpointsare:asfarasa
languageisconcerned,speechisinthefirstplace,namely,oralformsare
priortowrittenones.Thedescriptionofalanguageoughttobegiven
accordingtohowitisspokeninreality,nothowitmustbespoken.The
concretestepsofanalysisaretakenatthreelevels:first,thephoneme;
then,themorpheme;andfinally,sentencepatterns.Thestructural
grammariansareopposedtodividingwordclassesaccordingtothe
meaning,butinsistondescribingalanguagebyitsforms.
b.FunctionalGrammar---TheBritishLinguistM.A.K.Halliday
wasthechieffounder.Hethoughtthatlanguageisacommunicativetool
withthreesocialfunctionsexpressing:conceptsofthought,relationships
between human beings,and coherentcontents.Anotherfeatureof
FunctionGrammaristostudydeeplyvarioustypesofalanguageusedon
differentoccasionsandindifferentregions (suchasBritishEnglish,
AmericanEnglish,formal,informal,etc.).Oppositely,theothergrammar
schoolsdostudytheuseofalanguagebutonlytheinnerstructuresor
transformationandgenerationofsentences.Inthisaspect,Functional
Grammarhasopenedupanewfieldofthegrammarresearchforus.
c.CommunicativeGrammar---thegrammaticalsystemputforward
byBritishlinguistsG.LeechandJ.Svartvik.Ittakesconceptsofthought
asthecore,andthefeaturesofvarioustypesofEnglish(elevated,formal,
neutral,informal,slang;written,spoken,polite,familiar,etc.)expressions
ondifferentoccasions,pronunciationandintonationandsoon.Inmany
aspects,itrelatestoFunctionalGrammar(somanygrammariansregard
themasthesameone),butlaysmorespecialstressonthecommunicative
effectofalanguage,particularlyonthatoneconceptofthoughtcanbe
expressedbyvariousformsoflanguage.Itschiefcontributionlieson
“howtomakecommunicationbyusinggrammar”. “FollowMe”and
“NewConceptEnglish”aretypicaltwoofthewell-knowntextbooks
compiledonCommunicativeGrammar.
C.ExplanatoryGrammar
Basicallyspeaking,ExplanatoryGrammarbelongstotheoretical
grammar,whichmakesrationaldiscussionandexpositionongrammar
withthehelpofsemantics,lexicology,logic,psychology,sociologyand
eventhemethodsofmathematicalanalysis.Explanatorygrammarians
observeandstudylanguagephenomena,andfurthermore,explaintheir
distinctions,causesandorigins.
SomeprincipalschoolsofExplanatoryGrammar:
a.HistoricalGrammar---Itstudiesthedevelopmentofalanguage
fromtheview-pointofhistory,dealingwiththestudyofmorphologyand
syntax.Departingfromthetraditionsofprescriptivegrammar,historical
grammariansexpoundallkindsofphenomenaofEnglishaccordingtothe
historicalprinciples,avoidingestablishingsomeabstractrulestoguideor
“purify”thelanguage.
b.ComparativeGrammar---Itmakesalotofcomparisonbetween
the differentlanguages concerned or between the corresponding
grammaticalrelationsofonelanguageatdifferentstagesofhistory.
c.Transformational-generativeGrammar---Thefounderisan
Americanlinguist,N.Chomsky.Inhiswell-knowngrammarbook
“SyntacticStructures”,hesetsforthhisnewandoriginalviewson
grammar.Hethinksgrammarmustbesimpleandclear,andmustpossess
theabilityofgeneration,thatis,theabilitytoproduceinfinitesentences
accordingtothegrammar.Heholdsthateverynativespeakerofa
languageisbornwithasetoflinguisticacquisitiondeviceandthatthe
mathematicalpatternsmustbeusedtomakegrammarsimpleandclear.
Heputsforwardawholesetofstrictsystematicformulas,i.e.the
transformationalrules,fromwhichthepracticalspeechcanbeproduced.
Oneofitsoutstandingfeaturesistheadvancingofthedistinction
between“surfacestructure”and“deepstructure”ofthesentence.
Conclusion:Finally,letuscometothequestion “Howshouldwe
properlythinkofTraditionalGrammar?”Asalinguistictheoretic
branch,TraditionalGrammarhasalreadybeenlastingformorethan
2,000years.Itcertainlyhasitsownadvantagesandhasgivensome
importantcontributionstolanguagestudyingandteaching.Itmakesthe
studyofalanguageeasierbygivingdefinitions,makingrulesand
providingillustrations.Thebasicgrammaticalconceptssuchaspartsof
speech,membersofthesentence,methodsofanalyzingsentenceswordby
word,etc.dohelpthelearnerstomastersyntacticstructures,comprehend
essaysandreadtheoriginalsmoreeasily.Moreover,ithashadsome
influenceupontheestablishmentanddevelopmentofothergrammatical
schools.
TraditionalGrammar,however,has its own deficiency and
shortcomings.First,itputsstressonthemorphologyanddoesnotpay
enoughattentiontothesyntax.Astheresult,itisusuallynoteasyfor
learnerstomakesentencesbothinrightstructureandagreeingwiththe
habits.Thenthetraditionalgrammarattachesimportancetothewritten
languagebutnottotheorallanguage,andthusthecommunicativeand
socialfunctionsofthe language are overlooked.In addition,its
definitionsandrulesaremadebylogicalreasoningandbasedonvarious
standards,andsotheylackcontinuity.Forexample,somepartsofspeech
areclassifiedbythemeaning(suchasnoun,verbandinterjection),some
bytheirfunctions(pronoun,adjective,adverb,conjunction),andsomeby
both(preposition).
Many contemporary linguistssharply criticize and blame the
traditionalgrammar,and someeven regard itassubjectivism or
“
rationalism.Inotherwords,theyconsiderittobethesynonymof non-
”www.freetem4tem8.cn
science.Itisnecessaryandhelpfultopointoutthedeficiencyand
shortcomingsofthetraditionalgrammar,butitisnotpracticaltothrowit
allawayatpresent.Wemustseethatwiththedevelopmentoflanguage,
thetraditionalgrammarhasbeenimprovingitselfconstantly,particularly
drawing some research results of the structural grammar and
transformationalgrammar.Inourcountry,especiallyinmiddleschools
andmostcolleges,thegrammarsystemadoptedinEnglishteachingis
basicallythetraditionalgrammar.AsforStructure Grammarand
Transformational-generativeGrammar,theyhavenotallalongtakenthe
placeofTraditionalGrammar.StructuralGrammarisalreadyoutofpower
now.AlthoughTransformational-generativeGrammarhasgreatinfluence,
itisstillstudiedasameretheoryandnotyetwidelyusedinthe
practicallanguageteaching.
Ifwetakegrammarjustasausefultoolforlanguagestudyingand
teaching,notasthepurpose;ifweconstantlyimproveourEnglish
grammarteachingandstudythenew resultsofothercontemporary
grammarschools,wewillsurelymakegoodprogressinourEnglishstudyongrammar.
●
【Bibliography】
Thomson,A.J,andMartinetA.V.:“APracticalEnglishGrammar”.
Leech,G.andSvartvik,J.:“A CommunicativeGrammarofEnglish”.
Chomsky,N.:“SyntacticStructures”.
Lester,M.:“IntroductoryTransformationalGrammarofEnglish”.
XuLiwu:“APracticalGrammarofContemporaryEnglish”.
YuGuolin:“ANewEnglishGrammarforCollegeStudents”.
李学平、潘欢怀:“当代英语语法概论”.
四川大学外文系:“英语语法词典” 来
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