NATURE, SCOPE,

GRAMMAR
 WHAT IS GRAMMAR
Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe
grammar as the "rules" of a language; but in fact no language has rules*.

Languages started by people making sounds which evolved into words,

phrases and sentences.

No commonly-spoken language is fixed.

All languages change over time. What we call "grammar" is simply a
reflection of a language at a particular time. ).

For linguists, grammar is simply the collection of principles defining how

to put together a sentence.

Every language has restrictions on how words must be arranged to

construct a sentence. Such restrictions are principles of syntax.
Grammar Word Origin and Definition

The word grammar comes from the Greek (grammatikē technē),

meaning "craft of letters."

In any language, grammar is:

• The systematic study and description of a language (as
compared with usage).

• A set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and

word structures (morphology) of a language.
We Learn Grammar From Birth
• Grammar is actually something all of us begin to learn in our first days
and weeks of life, through interaction with others.

• We start learning it as soon as we hear it spoken around us, even if we

don't fully comprehend its meaning yet.

• Although a baby wouldn't have a clue about the terminology, they do

begin to pick up and assimilate how sentences are put together (syntax),
as well as figure out the pieces that go into making up those sentences
work (morphology).
• Types of Grammar

Lindley Murray is best known as “the father of English grammar.”

 
William Bullokar is the founder of English grammar.
 Tranformational or Generative Grammar:
UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR
• Universal Grammar or the predisposition for the brain to learn the
complexities of grammar from an early age, without being implicitly
taught all the rules.

• The study of how the brain actually does this is called neurolinguistics.

• Generative grammar is a theory of grammar, first developed by Noam

Chomsky in the 1950s, that is based on the idea that all humans have an
innate language capacity.
 Transformational or Generative Grammar

• Generative grammar is a theory of grammar that holds that human

language is shaped by a set of basic principles that are part of the human
brain (and even present in the brains of small children).

First developed by Noam Chomsky in the 1950s, that is based on the idea
that all humans have an innate language capacity.
Generative grammar accepts as a basic premise that native speakers of a
language will find certain sentences grammatical or ungrammatical, and
that these judgments give insight into the rules governing the use of that
language.

• Generative grammar is a kind of "unconscious knowledge" that allows a

person, no matter what language they speak, to form correct sentences.

• Generative grammar is grammar (or set of rules) that indicates the

structure and interpretation of sentences which native speakers of
a language accept as belonging to the language.
Mental Grammar

The concept of mental grammar was popularized by

American linguist Noam Chomsky.

"This focus on grammar as a mental entity allowed enormous

progress to be made in characterizing the structure of languages.
It's a subconscious or implicit knowledge of grammar, not learned by rote.

For example:

"One way to clarify mental or competence grammar is to ask a friend a

question about a sentence. Your friend probably won't know why it's correct,
but that friend will know if it's correct. “

The features of mental or competence grammar is this incredible sense of

correctness and the ability to hear something that 'sounds odd' in a language.
Prescriptive Grammar

Prescriptive grammar tells you how you should speak, and what
type of language to avoid.

This is commonly found in English classes as well as other

language classes, where the aim is to teach people how to use
language in a very particular (typically described as ‘proper’ or
‘correct’) way.
 Descriptive grammar
Descriptive grammar focuses on describing the language as it is used,
not saying how it should be used.

The term descriptive grammar refers to an objective, nonjudgmental

description of the grammatical constructions in a language. It's an
examination of how a language is actually being used, in writing and in
speech.

Descriptive grammar is the basis for dictionaries, which record changes

in vocabulary and usage.
ASSIGNMENT: 20 GRAMMAR RULES
WORD FORMATION: Morphology
(Linguistics)
Morphology

• The term morphology is Greek and is a makeup of morph-

meaning ‘shape, form’, and -ology which means ‘the study of
something’.

• Coined by the German linguist August Schleicher who used

the term for the study of the form of words
Morphology is the study of the structure and form of words in
language or a language, including inflection, derivation, and the
formation of compounds.

At the basic level, words are made of "morphemes."

These are the smallest units of meaning: roots and affixes (prefixes and
suffixes).
Inflection occurs when a word has different forms but essentially the
same meaning, and there is only a grammatical difference between
them.

For example, "make" and "makes"

The "-s" is an inflectional morpheme.

In contrast, derivation makes a word with a clearly different
meaning:

unhappy" or "happiness
both from "happy
The "un-" and "-ness" are derivational morphemes.

Normally a dictionary would list derived words, but there is no need

to list "makes" in a dictionary as well as "make."
Morphemes:
Free Morphemes vs Bound Morphemes

• Free morpheme: a simple word, consisting of one morpheme e.g.

house, work, high, chair, wrap.

 They are words in themselves.

• Bound morpheme: morphemes that must be attached to another

morpheme to receive meaning.
EG: UNKINDNESS
UN- and -NESS are the bound morphemes, requiring the root KIND to
form the word.

These are also called affixes as they are attached to the stem. There are
two types as outlined below:

Prefix (front of the base)= Un-

Suffix (end of the base)= -ness

Two Types of Bound Morphemes

1. Inflectional Morpheme

This type of morpheme is only a suffix.

It transforms the function of words by adding -ly as a suffix to the base of the
noun, such as in “friend,” which becomes “friendly.”

Now it contains two morphemes “friend” and “-ly.” Here, “-ly” is an inflectional
morpheme, as it has changed the noun “friend” into an adjective “friendly.”
2. Derivational Morpheme

This type of morpheme uses both prefix as well as suffix, and has the
ability to change function as well as meaning of words.

For instance, adding the suffix “-less” to the noun “meaning” makes
the meaning of this word entirely different.
Function of Morpheme

The basic function of a morpheme is to give meaning to a word. It may

or may not stand alone.

When it stands alone, it is thought to be a root.

However, when it depends upon other morphemes to complete an idea,

then it becomes an affix and plays a grammatical function.
Word Formation
Words
• A word is a speech sound or a combination of sounds, or its
representation in writing, that symbolizes and communicates a
meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or a
combination of morphemes.

• Word is independent:
 do not depend on other words.
 can be separated from other units
 can change position.
Morphemes – the building blocks of morphology
SIMPLE WORDS: Don’t have internal structure (only consist of one
morpheme) eg work, build, run. They can’t be split into smaller parts which
carry meaning or function.

COMPLEX WORDS: Have internal structure (consist of two or more

morphemes) eg worker: affix -er added to the root work to form a noun.

Morphemes are the smallest meaning-bearing units of language

Derivation
Derivation is the process of creating new words.

The technical term derivational morphology is the study of the

formation of new words.

Here are some examples of words which are built up from

smaller parts:

• black + bird combine to form blackbird

• dis- + connect combine to form disconnect
• predict + -able combine to form predictable
Combination processes are also used to form brand-new words which
add to the English vocabulary.

Some examples from recent years are:

speed-dating

smartphone
We can make a more complex word from a simpler one by adding
a short element at the beginning or end.

Suppose we start from the word kind.

We could add the element un- to from unkind:

un- + kind → unkind

Again starting with kind as our lexical base, we could instead add
the element -ness to form unkindness
Adding a suffix can also change the word class: that is, produce a
different type of word which behaves differently when it combines
with other words in sentences.

For example:
• Kind is an adjective that fits into combinations like a kind friend.
• Adding -ness creates a noun, kindness, that fits into patterns like
a great kindness.

We can also combine more than one word (or lexical base) to form a
more complex word called a compound
Inflection

Inflection refers to a process of word formation in which items are

added to the base form of a word to express grammatical meanings.

The word "inflection" comes from the Latin inflectere, meaning "to
bend."
Inflections in English grammar include the:

• genitive 's; Paul + ‘s = Paul’s

• the plural -s; dog + s = dogs
• the third-person singular -s; she travel + -s = she travels
• the past tense -d, -ed, or -t; burn + -ed = burned
• the negative particle 'nt; do + ‘nt = don’t
• -ing forms of verbs; sing + -ing = singing
• the comparative -er; pretty + -ier = prettier
• the superlative -est. ; sweet + -est = sweetest
Inflections can also be used to indicate a word's part of speech.

The prefix en-, for example, transforms the noun gulf into the verb
engulf. en + gulf = engulf

The suffix -er transforms the verb read into the noun reader.
verb read + -er = reader (noun)
Inflection Rules

Part of Grammatical Category Inflection Examples

Speech
Noun Number -s, -es Flower →
Flowers
Glass →
Glasses
Noun, Case (Genitive) -'s, -', -s Paul →
Pronoun Paul's
Francis →
Francis'
It → Its
Pronoun Case (Reflexive) -self, - Him → Himself
selves Them →
Themselves

Verb Aspect (Progressive) -ing Run →

Running
Verb Aspect (Perfect) -en, -ed Fall → (Has)
fallen
Finish → (Has)
finished
Verb Tense (Past) -ed Open →
Opened

Verb Tense (Present) -s Open → Opens

Adjective Degree of Comparison -er Smart →

(Comparative) Smarter

Adjective Degree of Comparison -est Smart →

(Superlative) Smartest
Conjugation

The inflection of English verbs is also known as conjugation.

Regular verbs follow the rules listed above and consist of three parts:
 the base verb (present tense),
 the base verb plus -ed (simple past tense), and
 the base verb plus -ed (past participle).
While most verbs follow these conjugation rules, there are over
200 words in the English language that do not.

These irregular verbs include:

be, begin, bid, bleed, catch, deal, drive, eat, feel, find, forget, go,
grow, hang, have, hide, leave, lose, meet, pay, ride, ring, seek,
send, shall, shine, show, sing, spin, steal, take, tear, wear, and win.
 Conversion
Another word-forming process is conversion, where a word is shifted
to a different word class without adding any elements.

This means it is used as a different type of word.

For example:

• Eye is usually a noun: it is found in combinations like an eye, blue

eyes to refer to a thing or things.
• But, through conversion, it can also be used as a verb to indicate an
action: She eyed them suspiciously.
Another example is hopeful:

• This is usually an adjective which indicates a property of something

or someone (e.g. a hopeful sign).

• But by conversion it has also come to be used as a noun, as in:

These Olympic hopefuls, …

which refers to a group of people (who are hoping for Olympic success)
• Clipping, where words are shortened by removing syllables, e.g.
laboratory → lab; Christopher → Chris

• Blending, where two lexical bases are blended together, e.g.

breakfast + lunch → brunch; gigantic + enormous → ginormous

• Initialisms, made up of the first letters of a series of words:

frequently asked question → FAQ; laughing out loud → LOL
Borrowing

Loanwords are words adopted by the speakers of one language from a

different language (the source language).

A loanword can also be called a borrowing.

The abstract noun borrowing refers to the process of speakers adopting

words from a source language into their native language.
"Loan" and "borrowing" are of course metaphors, because there is no literal
lending process.

There is no transfer from one language to another, and no "returning" words

to the source language.

The words simply come to be used by a speech community that speaks a

different language from the one these words originated in.
Generally, some speakers of the borrowing language know the source
language too, or at least enough of it to utilize the relevant word.

They (often consciously) adopt the new word when speaking the borrowing
language, because it most exactly fits the idea they are trying to express.
Words from European languages
French
French continues to be the largest single source of new words outside of
very specialized vocabulary domains (scientific/technical vocabulary,
still dominated by classical borrowings).
High culture—ballet, champagne,, sachet, salon, saloon,
War and Military— battalion, cavalry, grenade, infantry,
Other— denim, garage, jean(s)
Spanish -alligator, canyon, guitar, mosquito, mustang

 Italian - balcony, broccoli, casino, duo, fresco,

macaroni, motto, piano, opera, pantaloons, •

from Italian American immigrants—cappuccino, espresso,

linguini,, pasta, pizza, ravioli, spaghetti
German – kindergarten, pretzel, frankfurter
Words from other parts of the world:

Hindi – bandana, pajamas, bungalow, bangles

Arabic – giraffe, bazaar

Chinese – dim sung, ketchup, tea

Affixation

Adding grammatical morphemes before or after the root:

Prefixes = grammatical morphenes added when they precede the

root

Suffixes – grammatical morphemes added when they follow it.

The processes of adding these morphemes are called prefixation

and suffixation.
There is a third type of affix that can rarely be found in the English language
called infix: and describes an affix which is incorporated inside another word.

Take for instance the nouns speedometer or decumbent. Here, the infixes -o and -m are inserted into
the middle.

While the latter infix is a good example for a frozen historical relic from Latin, there are also a few
infixations in contemporary English -- in particular in colloquial, explicit English,
e.g. abso-bloomin-lutely or guaran-friggin-tee.

A fourth and equally rare affix in the English language is the circumfix. Sometimes also termed
discontinuous morphemes, the circumfix is attached to a root morpheme both initially and finally.
 TRANSFORMING NOUNS TO
ADJECTIVES
A noun is a person, place or thing; an adjective modifies or describes the noun. The girl is a beauty -- beauty
being a noun. The girl can also be beautiful -- beautiful, in this case, being an adjective. Turning a noun into
an adjective requires only a few minor changes to the ending of a word.

Adding Suffixes

The simplest way to turn a noun into an adjective is to add suffixes to the end of the root word. The most
common suffixes used to create adjectives are -ly, -able, -al, -ous, -ary, -ful, -ic, -ish, -less, -like and -y. For
example, turn the noun "danger" into the adjective "dangerous" by adding the suffix -ous.
Other examples include:

"The lady enjoys magic; however, she is not very magical herself."

"Those who have health are considered healthy, while those who follow fashion are thought of as
fashionable."

In these instances, the root nouns were turned into adjectives by adding appropriate suffixes.

Sometimes you will have to make slight modifications to the root noun if it ends in -e, -y or -t. For example, if the noun
is "offense," the adjective is "offensive." In this case, drop the -e from the noun and add -ive to create the adjective.
 VERBS TO NOUNS
Many verbs in the English language can easily be converted into nouns with the addition of suffixes.

Adding Suffixes
Add "-ance" or "-ence" to verbs. A wide variety of verbs can be changed to nouns with the addition of the
suffixes "-ance" or "-ence." For example, the verb "appear" can become "appearance." The verb "resist"
can become "resistance."[1]

For example, look at the sentence, "He appeared on many talk shows while promoting his book." If you
wanted to change the verb to a noun, you could say, "He made many talk show appearances while
promoting his book."
• Add "-ment" to verbs. Other verbs require the suffix "-ment" to be converted to nouns. For example,
"appoint,", "assign," and "enjoy" can become "appointment," "assignment", and "enjoyment."[2]

For example, look at the sentence, "The man enjoyed his lunch." If you wanted to change the verb to a noun,
you could say, "The man's lunch brought him enjoyment."

• Add "-tion" or "-sion.". The suffixes "-tion" and "-sion" are found at the end of many nouns. A wide variety
of verbs turn into nouns with these suffixes.

For example, "inform", "decide", and "describe" can become "information," "decision," and "description."
For example, look at the sentence, "He decided to decline the job offer." If you wanted to use a noun, you could
say, "He made the decision to decline the job offer."
 NOUN – NOUN –
SUFFIX NOUN – ADJECTIVE
ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE
-AL     relating to accident – accidental brute – brutal region – regional
region – regional person – personal universe –universal
-ARY  relating to quality or custom – customary moment – momentary caution – cautionary
place compliment – honor – honorary diet – dietary
complimentary
-FUL  full of beauty – beautiful wonder – wonderful awe – awful
skill – skillful success – successful delight – delightful
-IC  having the nature of; athlete – athletic base – basic history – historic
caused by photograph – science – scientific rhythm– rhythmic
photographic
-ICAL  having the nature magic – magical logic – logical history – historical
of practice – practical statistic – statistical alphabet – alphabetical
 NOUN – NOUN –
SUFFIX NOUN – ADJECTIVE
ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE
-ISH  origin, nature fool – foolish child – childish self – selfish
sheep – sheepish pink – pinkish girl – girlish
-LESS  without power – powerless friend – friendless worth – worthless
use – useless home – homeless penny – penniless
-LIKE  like  like – lifelike lady – ladylike war – warlike
child – childlike bird – birdlike spring – springlike
-LY  like  friend – friendly cost – costly month – monthly
day – daily order – orderly coward – cowardly
-OUS  quality, nature poison – poisonous danger – dangerous nerve – nervous
courtesy – courteous mystery – mysterious victory – victorious
-Y  like  rain – rainy fun – funny dirt – dirty
mess – messy dirt – dirty spot – spotty
 NOUN – NOUN –
SUFFIX NOUN – ADJECTIVE
ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE
-OUS  quality, nature poison – poisonous danger – dangerous nerve – nervous
courtesy – courteous mystery – mysterious victory – victorious

-Y  like  rain – rainy fun – funny dirt – dirty

mess – messy dirt – dirty spot – spotty
VERB TO ADJECTIVES
SUFFIX VERB – ADJECTIVE VERB – ADJECTIVE VERB – ADJECTIVE
-ABLE  able, can do agree – agreeable expand – expandable laugh – laughable
pass – passable remark – remarkable pay – payable
-IBLE  able, can do access – accessible force – forcible sense – sensible
flex – flexible permit – permissible force – forcible
-ANT  performing agent please – pleasant rely – reliant ignore – ignorant
resist – resistant vacate – vacant comply – compliant
-ENT  performing agent excel – excellent depend – dependent confide – confident
urge – urgent differ – different equal – equivalent
-IVE causing effect attract – attractive create – creative select – selective
posses – possessive prevent – preventive destruct – destructive
-ING  causing effect amuse – amusing excite – exciting confuse – confusing
relax –relaxing surprise –surprising amaze – amusing
-ED  receiving effect amuse – amused excite – excited confuse – confused
relax – relaxed surprise – surprised overwhelm – overwhelmed

-EN  receiving effect freeze – frozen lighten – lightened darken – darkened

braze – brazen shorten – shortened widen – widened
ADJECTIVES TO ADVERBS
In most cases, an adverb is formed by adding -ly to an adjective
ADJECTIVE ADVERB
• quick • quickly
• slow • slowly
If the adjective ends in -y, replace the y with i and add -ly
• easy • easily
• angry • angrily
If the adjective ends in -able, -ible, or -le, replace the -e with -y.
• probable • probably
• gentle • gently
If the adjective ends in -ic, add -ally. Exception: public -> publicly
• basic • basically
• economic • economically
Some adverbs have the same form as the adjective: early, fast, hard, high, late, near, straight, &
wrong

EXAMPLES

 It is a fast car.

 He drives very fast.

 This is a hard exercise.

 He works hard.

 We saw many high buildings.

 The bird flew high in the sky.

Well is the adverb that corresponds to the adjective good.

EXAMPLES

 He is a good student.

 He studies well.

 She is a good pianist.

 She plays the piano well.

 They are good swimmers.

 They swim well.

VERBS TO ADJECTIVES

Verbs can be changed into adverbs.

The easiest way to do this is to change the verb into an adjective, then add a
suffix to the adjective to turn it into an adverb.

For example, you can change the verb, sleep, into an adjective, sleepy, which
you can then turn into an adverb, sleepily, by adding a suffix.
END OF SEMESTER