英语学科浅谈英语语法及其分类 15页

英语论文之浅谈英语语法及其分类【摘要】当代英语语法流派能够粗略地分为三大类:规定性语法、描绘性语法和解释性语法。本文简单介绍了各类语法的起源、根本概念【关键词】英语语法;分类;规定性语法;描绘性语法;解释性语法【Abstract】TheprincipalschoolsofcontemporaryEnglishgrammarmayroughlybepidedintothreemajorclasses:PrescriptiveGrammar,DescriptiveGrammarandExplanatoryGrammar.Thisarticlebrieflyintroducestheirorigins,basicconceptsandmaincharacteristics,andgivestheauthor’sopiniononhowweshouldproperlythinkofTraditionalGrammar.【Keywords】Engilshgrammar;classification;prescriptivegrammar;descriptivegrammar;explanatorygrammarIntroduction:Fromthelinguisticpointofview,Englishlanguage, likeanyotherlivinglanguageintheworld,consistsofthreeessentialelements:pronunciation,vocabularyandgrammar.Pronunciationisthematerialoutershellofalanguage,orthematerialforminwhichalanguageexists.Vocabularyreferstoalltheconstructionsofalanguage.Grammardealswiththesystematiclawsandrulesofalanguage,includingitsforms,inflexionsandwaystomakesentences.Grammarisoftencomparedtotheplasterandskeletondesignsofbuildingofalanguage.Letusdrawananalogysoastomakeclearertherelationbetweenthethreebasicelements.Supposingalanguageisabuilding,thenpronunciationisitsoutershape,vocabularyisthematerialofconstruction(suchasbrick,tile,reinforcebars,cement,etc.)andgrammarisjustlikethedesignsandtechniquesofconstruction. Amongthethreeessentialelements,pronunciation,asthematerialbasisoftheexistenceofalanguage,isprimary;vocabularyliesonthecentralpositionastheothertwoareexpressedbymeansofit,whilegrammaristheusefulandnecessarytoolforustostudyandusealanguage.Withoutit,wewouldfeelitquitedifficulttousealanguagecorrectly,especiallyaforeignlanguage.ForastudentorateacherofEnglish,itisstillmorenecessarytostudygrammar.Accordingtothedevelopmentofgrammar,theprincipalschoolsofcontemporaryEnglishgrammarmayroughlybepidedintothreemajorclasses:PrescriptiveGrammar,DescriptiveGrammarandExplanatoryGrammar.Hereisasketchyintroductiontosomeofthem:A.PrescriptiveGrammarPrescriptivegrammaroriginatedinancientGreektimesofPlatoandAristotle.Atthattime,grammarwasonlytreatedasthetoolofenjoying literature,andthechangesoflanguagewerelookeduponasdecayanddegeneration.Theancientformsofalanguagewereheldinesteemandthegrammarianstriedtokeepthemfixedandunchanged.Prescriptivegrammarmainlyconsistsoftwoparts:MorphologyandSyntax.TherewereeightpartsofspeechandaseriesofgrammaticalrulesbasedonLatingrammarwithagreatnumberofillustrationsfromtheworksofsomefamouswriters.AllPrescriptiveGrammarschoolshavesuchcommoncharacteristicsasbelow:.freetem4tem8.cna.Thegrammarrulesaremadeonthebasisoflogicalreasoning(justlikeLatingrammar),andusedtodecidewhetheracertainlanguagephenomenoniscorrectornot.b.ThesystemispidedintoMorphologyandSyntax.c.Theanalysisofsentenceismademoreorlessaccordingtotheir meanings(thusalsocalled“notionalgrammar”).Itisemphasizedthatonelanguageformexpressesonlyoneconceptofidea.ThemainschoolsofPrescriptiveGrammarare:a.SchoolGrammar---theonecompiledforteachingalanguageinththschoolsfromthe18centurytothe20century.b.PracticalGrammar---theoneusedtomaster,ormoreexactly,tohelpthecommandofaforeignlanguage.c.TraditionalGrammar---allthegrammarschoolsdifferentfromDescriptiveGrammarandExplanatoryGrammar.Thoughlastingforover2,000years,ithasnoactualdefinition.Generallyspeaking,itreferstotheterms,rules,conceptsandtheoriestakenandcarriedonfromthethworksof18centuryprescriptivegrammarandthoseafterwards.B.DescriptiveGrammarth DescriptiveGrammarcameintobringinthelate19centuryandththeearly20century.Thedescriptivegrammariansthinkthatlanguageisalwayschanginganddeveloping,andthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferentfeaturesoftheirown,sotheyobjecttoapplyingLatingrammarmechanically.Theyinsistupondescribingobjectivelyandindetailthepracticaluseofalanguage,andanalyzingitaccordingtoitsstructuresandfunctions.Itisemphasizedthatoneconceptofideacanbeexpressedindifferentways.SomemainschoolsofDescriptiveGrammar:a.StructuralGrammar---thechiefviewpointsare:asfarasalanguageisconcerned,speechisinthefirstplace,namely,oralformsarepriortowrittenones.Thedescriptionofalanguageoughttobegiven accordingtohowitisspokeninreality,nothowitmustbespoken.Theconcretestepsofanalysisaretakenatthreelevels:first,thephoneme;then,themorpheme;andfinally,sentencepatterns.Thestructuralgrammariansareopposedtopidingwordclassesaccordingtothemeaning,butinsistondescribingalanguagebyitsforms.b.FunctionalGrammar---TheBritishLinguistM.A.K.Hallidaywasthechieffounder.Hethoughtthatlanguageisacommunicativetoolwiththreesocialfunctionsexpressing:conceptsofthought,relationshipsbetweenhumanbeings,andcoherentcontents.AnotherfeatureofFunctionGrammaristostudydeeplyvarioustypesofalanguageusedondifferentoccasionsandindifferentregions(suchasBritishEnglish,AmericanEnglish,formal,informal,etc.).Oppositely,theothergrammar schoolsdostudytheuseofalanguagebutonlytheinnerstructuresortransformationandgenerationofsentences.Inthisaspect,FunctionalGrammarhasopenedupanewfieldofthegrammarresearchforus.c.CommunicativeGrammar---thegrammaticalsystemputforward   byBritishlinguistsG.LeechandJ.Svartvik.Ittakesconceptsofthoughtasthecore,andthefeaturesofvarioustypesofEnglish(elevated,formal,neutral,informal,slang;written,spoken,polite,familiar,etc.)expressionsondifferentoccasions,pronunciationandintonationandsoon.Inmanyaspects,itrelatestoFunctionalGrammar(somanygrammariansregardthemasthesameone),butlaysmorespecialstressonthecommunicative effectofalanguage,particularlyonthatoneconceptofthoughtcanbeexpressedbyvariousformsoflanguage.Itschiefcontributionlieson“howtomakecommunicationbyusinggrammar”.“FollowMe”and“NewConceptEnglish”aretypicaltwoofthewell-knowntextbookscompiledonCommunicativeGrammar.C.ExplanatoryGrammarBasicallyspeaking,ExplanatoryGrammarbelongstotheoreticalgrammar,whichmakesrationaldiscussionandexpositionongrammarwiththehelpofsemantics,lexicology,logic,psychology,sociologyandeventhemethodsofmathematicalanalysis.Explanatorygrammariansobserveandstudylanguagephenomena,andfurthermore,explaintheirdistinctions,causesandorigins.SomeprincipalschoolsofExplanatoryGrammar:a.HistoricalGrammar---Itstudiesthedevelopmentofalanguage fromtheview-pointofhistory,dealingwiththestudyofmorphologyandsyntax.Departingfromthetraditionsofprescriptivegrammar,historicalgrammariansexpoundallkindsofphenomenaofEnglishaccordingtothehistoricalprinciples,avoidingestablishingsomeabstractrulestoguideor“purify”thelanguage.b.ComparativeGrammar---Itmakesalotofcomparisonbetweenthedifferentlanguagesconcernedorbetweenthecorrespondinggrammaticalrelationsofonelanguageatdifferentstagesofhistory.c.Transformational-generativeGrammar---ThefounderisanAmericanlinguist,N.Chomsky.Inhiswell-knowngrammarbook“SyntacticStructures”,hesetsforthhisnewandoriginalviewsongrammar.Hethinksgrammarmustbesimpleandclear,andmustpossess theabilityofgeneration,thatis,theabilitytoproduceinfinitesentencesaccordingtothegrammar.Heholdsthateverynativespeakerofalanguageisbornwithasetoflinguisticacquisitiondeviceandthatthemathematicalpatternsmustbeusedtomakegrammarsimpleandclear.Heputsforwardawholesetofstrictsystematicformulas,i.e.thetransformationalrules,fromwhichthepracticalspeechcanbeproduced.Oneofitsoutstandingfeaturesistheadvancingofthedistinctionbetween“surfacestructure”and“deepstructure”ofthesentence.Conclusion:Finally,letuscometothequestion“HowshouldweproperlythinkofTraditionalGrammar?”Asalinguistictheoreticbranch,TraditionalGrammarhasalreadybeenlastingformorethan2,000years.Itcertainlyhasitsownadvantagesandhasgivensomeimportantcontributionstolanguagestudyingandteaching.Itmakesthestudyofalanguageeasierbygivingdefinitions,makingrulesand providingillustrations.Thebasicgrammaticalconceptssuchaspartsofspeech,membersofthesentence,methodsofanalyzingsentenceswordbyword,etc.dohelpthelearnerstomastersyntacticstructures,comprehendessaysandreadtheoriginalsmoreeasily.Moreover,ithashadsomeinfluenceupontheestablishmentanddevelopmentofothergrammaticalschools.TraditionalGrammar,however,hasitsowndeficiencyandshortcomings.First,itputsstressonthemorphologyanddoesnotpayenoughattentiontothesyntax.Astheresult,itisusuallynoteasyforlearnerstomakesentencesbothinrightstructureandagreeingwiththehabits.Thenthetraditionalgrammarattachesimportancetothewrittenlanguagebutnottotheorallanguage,andthusthecommunicativeand socialfunctionsofthelanguageareoverlooked.Inaddition,itsdefinitionsandrulesaremadebylogicalreasoningandbasedonvariousstandards,andsotheylackcontinuity.Forexample,somepartsofspeechareclassifiedbythemeaning(suchasnoun,verbandinterjection),somebytheirfunctions(pronoun,adjective,adverb,conjunction),andsomebyboth(preposition).Manycontemporarylinguistssharplycriticizeandblamethetraditionalgrammar,andsomeevenregarditassubjectivismor“rationalism.Inotherwords,theyconsiderittobethesynonymofnon-”.freetem4tem8.cnscience.Itisnecessaryandhelpfultopointoutthedeficiencyandshortcomingsofthetraditionalgrammar,butitisnotpracticaltothrowit allawayatpresent.Wemustseethatwiththedevelopmentoflanguage,thetraditionalgrammarhasbeenimprovingitselfconstantly,particularlydrawingsomeresearchresultsofthestructuralgrammarandtransformationalgrammar.Inourcountry,especiallyinmiddleschoolsandmostcolleges,thegrammarsystemadoptedinEnglishteachingisbasicallythetraditionalgrammar.AsforStructureGrammarandTransformational-generativeGrammar,theyhavenotallalongtakentheplaceofTraditionalGrammar.StructuralGrammarisalreadyoutofpowernow.AlthoughTransformational-generativeGrammarhasgreatinfluence,itisstillstudiedasameretheoryandnotyetwidelyusedinthepracticallanguageteaching.Ifwetakegrammarjustasausefultoolforlanguagestudyingandteaching,notasthepurpose;ifweconstantlyimproveourEnglish grammarteachingandstudythenewresultsofothercontemporarygrammarschools,wewillsurelymakegoodprogressinourEnglishstudyongrammar.●【Bibliography】Thomson,A.J,andMartinetA.V.:“APracticalEnglishGrammar”.Leech,G.andSvartvik,J.:“ACommunicativeGrammarofEnglish”.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”