Grammar

• Types of grammar


  • Traditional grammar
  • Formal linguists
  • Functional linguists
• Traditional grammar


  Inherited from the Greeks and Romans, closely allied with the study of rhetoric; devolves into school grammar and used to prescribe the standard language
• Formal linguists


  Follow strongly by Noam Chomsky; represented as a kind of algebra– a list of rules; mainly used to describes the limits of language
• Functional linguists


  Influenced by the work of Halliday; more sociological in orientation – concerned with relating language to society and with understanding how the ways in which language is used have shaped its structure; used in education, computational linguistics, and social semiotics
• Aspects of context


  • Field
  • Tenor
  • Mode
• Field


  The issue or ideas, what's going on and what's it about
• Tenor


  The relationship of writer to reader; Degree of solidarity and authority
• Mode


  How does it stick together? Spoken or written
• Kinds of meaning


  • Ideational meaning
  • Interpersonal meaning
  • Textual
• Ideational meaning


  Language represents experience
• Interpersonal meaning


  Language that enables interaction
• Textual


  Language provides resources for composing a text
• Sentence


  A piece of written language that in English conventionally begins with a capital letter and ends at the next following full stop
• Clause complex


  A language structure that consists of one clause working by itself, or a group of clauses that work together through some kind of logical relationship
• Rank Scale


  • Word
  • Group/Phrase
  • Clause
  • Clause complex

  
• Word Classes


  • Nouns
  • Pronouns
  • Adjectives
  • Numerals
  • Determiners
  • Verbs
  • Prepositions
  • Adverbs
  • Conjunctions
• Common noun


  The name of a person, place, or thing
• Common noun


  • Can be preceded by a determiner
  • Can be singular or plural
• Proper noun


  The name of a person or place
• Proper noun


  • Can't be preceded by a determiner
  • Can't be plural
• Pronoun


  Can replace a noun
• Pronoun


  • Can't be preceded by a determiner
  • Has singular and plural forms
• Adjective


  Describes a noun
• Adjective


  • Can be preceded by a determiner
  • Can take a modifying word
  • Can't be plural
• Numeral


  A number
• Numeral


  • Can sometimes be preceded by a determiner
  • Can sometimes take plurals
• Determiner


  Tells what the noun refers to
• Determiner


  • Precedes all other words in a noun group
  • Can be plural or singular
• Verb


  Describes an action or state
• Verb


  • Usually comes after the noun (in declarative/statements)
  • Can't be pluralized but can have its tense changed
• Types of verbs


  • Lexical verbs
  • Auxiliaries
• Lexical verbs


  The main or content words in the verbal group
• Auxiliaries


  Often called the helping word in the verbal group
• Verb forms


  • Finite
  • Non-finite

  
• Finite verbs


  Verbs which have a past or present form (have tense)

  
• Non-finite verbs


  Any other verb forms (-ing, to + verb)

  
• Preposition


  Typically comes before the determiner (if there is one) or before the noun
• Preposition


  • Can't be pluralized or have its tense changed
• Adverb


  Modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb
• Adverb


  • Can go almost anywhere
  • Cannot be pluralized or have its tense changed
  • Often but not always ends in "ly"
  • Gradable