Lecture #2

Descriptive and Prescriptive Grammar

Descriptive Grammar

What people do with language

How the system works

Prescriptive Grammar

What people should not do with language .... according to some 'authority'

Some Prescriptive Rules of English

Don't split infinitives
Don't use double negation
Don't end a sentence with a preposition
Don't use who in place of whom
Don't misuse hopefully

E.g. "Hopefully he will arrive tomorrow."

Some Descriptive Rules of English

The subject precedes the verb, the object follows the verb
Auxiliary verbs precede the subject in questions

"What has she done?"

*"What she has done?

Form the plural of a noun by adding '-s'

Where do Prescriptive Rules come from?

Rules adopted into English from Latin
Rules adopted from mathematical logic
Speech patterns imposed by speakers with high social prestige
Word choices of older generation

Sentence-final Prepositions

3a. "What did the president talk about?"

3b. "About what did the president talk?"

4a. "Who did you sit with?"

4b. "With whom did you sit?"

Stranding of prepositions is descriptively impossible in Romance languages, e.g. Latin, Italian, French, Spanish

5. "This is a rule up with which we should not put"

- Winston Churchill

Split Infinitives

6a. "To boldly go where no man has gone before."

6b. "To go boldly where no man had gone before."

7a. "I want to quickly read the newspaper."

7b. "I want quickly to read the newspaper."

English infinitive = 2 words, to + verb stem

8. Infinitives in Romance languages = 1 word

comere: to eat (Latin)

andare: to go (Italian)

estar: to be (Spanish)

danser: to dance (French)

Double Negatives

9. English

a. "I didn't see nothing."

b. "He didn't never say nothing like that."

10. Spanish

"No vi nada." = I didn't see nothing.

11. French

"Il n'a jamais dit cela." = He hasn't never said that.

What is 'Lazy' Speech Like?

What effect does reduced muscular coordination have on speech?

- Vowels unaffected

- Consonants lengthened

- 's', 'ch' -> 'sh', e.g. 'yesh, 'shersh'

No known non-standard speech styles have these characteristics, nor is standard English developing in this way.

Status of Prescriptive Grammar

Decision to follow is an individual choice
Can substantially affect a listener's judgment of a speaker
Associated with prestige and education
No scientific basis for its prestige

Where do Descriptive Rules come from?

Saying what 'makes sense'?
Saying what is easily understandable?
'Facts of life' with no communicative function?

One rule that does not aid comprehension

The subject precedes the object (in English)

12a. "The dog bit the boy."

12b. "The boy bit the dog."

Absent in German - case markers show subject and object:

13a. "Der Hund hat den Junge gebissen."

The dog bit the boy.

13b. "Den Junge hat der Hund gebissen."

The dog bit the boy.

Many descriptive rules don't aid comprehension

The object follows the verb.

14a. "I know that the dog ate the cookie."

14b. "I know that the dog the cookie ate."

The verb agrees with the subject.

15a. "Wallace likes Wendoline."

15b. "Wallace like Wendoline."

Some constructions disallow certain verbs

16a. "The millionaire gave the museum a painting."

16b. "The millionaire sent the museum a painting."

16c. "The millionaire bought the museum a painting."

16d. "The millionaire offered the museum a painting."

Compare with:

17a. "The millionaire obtained the musuem a painting."

17b. "The millionaire donated the museum a painting."

17c. "The millionaire presented the museum a painting."

Comparative '-er'

big -> bigger

sad -> sadder

red -> redder

happy -> happier

but not

enormous -> enormouser

melancholy -> melancholier

crimson -> crimsoner

delighted -> delighteder

Hard to Understand (but perfectly grammatical!)

"The students who knew all the answers were sleeping in their rooms when the rest of the class was taking the test."

"The doctor who the intern who the nurse supervised had bothered lost the medical reports."

Status of Prescriptive Grammar

Not a personal choice whether or not to follow it &endash; it's automatic
Doesn't require explicit teaching (for children)
Social prestige is irrelevant
"Ungrammatical" is different from "Incomprehensible"