语言文化论文-浅谈英语语法及其分类.doc

语言文化论文-浅谈英语语法及其分类【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Introduction: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,theprincipalschoolsofcontemporaryEnglishgrammarmayroughlybedividedintothreemajorclasses:PrescriptiveGrammar,DescriptiveGrammarandExplanatoryGrammar.Hereisasketchyintroductiontosomeofthem:A.PrescriptiveGrammarPrescriptivegrammaroriginatedinancientGreektimesofPlatoandAristotle.Atthattime,grammarwasonlytreatedasthetoolofenjoyingliterature,andthechangesoflanguagewerelookeduponasdecayanddegeneration.Theancientformsofalanguagewereheldinesteemandthegrammarianstriedtokeepthemfixedandunchanged.Prescriptivegrammarmainlyconsistsoftwoparts:MorphologyandSyntax.TherewereeightpartsofspeechandaseriesofgrammaticalrulesbasedonLatingrammarwithagreatnumberofillustrationsfromtheworksofsomefamouswriters.AllPrescriptiveGrammarschoolshavesuchcommoncharacteristicsasbelow:a.Thegrammarrulesaremadeonthebasisoflogicalreasoning(justlikeLatingrammar),andusedtodecidewhetheracertainlanguagephenomenoniscorrectornot.b.ThesystemisdividedintoMorphologyandSyntax.c.Theanalysisofsentenceismademoreorlessaccordingtotheirmeanings(thusalsocalled“notionalgrammar”).Itisemphasizedthatonelanguageformexpressesonlyoneconceptofidea.ThemainschoolsofPrescriptiveGrammarare:a.SchoolGrammar-theonecompiledforteachingalanguageinththschoolsfromthe18centurytothe20century.b.PracticalGrammar-theoneusedtomaster,ormoreexactly,tohelpthecommandofaforeignlanguage.c.TraditionalGrammar-allthegrammarschoolsdifferentfromDescriptiveGrammarandExplanatoryGrammar.Thoughlastingforover2,000years,ithasnoactualdefinition.Generallyspeaking,itreferstotheterms,rules,conceptsandtheoriestakenandcarriedonfromthethworksof18centuryprescriptivegrammarandthoseafterwards.B.DescriptiveGrammarthDescriptiveGrammarcameintobringinthelate19centuryandththeearly20century.Thedescriptivegrammariansthinkthatlanguageisalwayschanginganddeveloping,andthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferentfeaturesoftheirown,sotheyobjecttoapplyingLatingrammarmechanically.Theyinsistupondescribingobjectivelyandindetailthepracticaluseofalanguage,andanalyzingitaccordingtoitsstructuresandfunctions.Itisemphasizedthatoneconceptofideacanbeexpressedindifferentways.SomemainschoolsofDescriptiveGrammar:a.StructuralGrammar-thechiefviewpointsare:asfarasalanguageisconcerned,speechisinthefirstplace,namely,oralformsarepriortowrittenones.Thedescriptionofalanguageoughttobegivenaccordingtohowitisspokeninreality,nothowitmustbespoken.Theconcretestepsofanalysisaretakenatthreelevels:first,thephoneme；then,themorpheme；andfinally,sentencepatterns.Thestructuralgrammariansareopposedtodividingwordclassesaccordingtothemeaning,butinsistondescribingalanguagebyitsforms.b.FunctionalGrammar-TheBritishLinguistM.A.K.Hallidaywasthechieffounder.Hethoughtthatlanguageisacommunicativetoolwiththreesocialfunctionsexpressing:conceptsofthought,relationshipsbetweenhumanbeings,andcoherentcontents.AnotherfeatureofFunctionGrammaristostudydeeplyvarioustypesofalanguageusedondifferentoccasionsandindifferentregions(suchasBritishEnglish,AmericanEnglish,formal,informal,etc.).Oppositely,theothergrammarschoolsdostudytheuseofalanguagebutonlytheinnerstructuresortransformationandgenerationofsentences.Inthisaspect,FunctionalGrammarhasopenedupanewfieldofthegrammarresearchforus.c.CommunicativeGrammar-thegrammaticalsystemputforwardbyBritishlinguistsG.LeechandJ.Svartvik.Ittakesconceptsofthoughtasthecore,andthefeaturesofvarioustypesofEnglish(elevated,formal,neutral,informal,slang；written,spoken,polite,familiar,etc.)expressionsondifferentoccasions,pronunciationandintonationandsoon.Inmanyaspects,itrelatestoFunctionalGrammar(somanygrammariansregardthemasthesameone),butlaysmorespecialstressonthecommunicativeeffectofalanguage,particularlyonthatoneconceptofthoughtcanbeexpressedbyvariousformsoflanguage.Itschiefcontributionlieson“howtomakecommunicationbyusinggrammar”.“FollowMe”and“NewConceptEnglish”aretypicaltwoofthewell-knowntextbookscompiledonCommunicativeGrammar.C.ExplanatoryGrammarBasicallyspeaking,ExplanatoryGrammarbelongstotheoreticalgrammar,whichmakesrationaldiscussionandexpositionongrammarwiththehelpofsemantics,lexicology,logic,psychology,sociologyandeventhemethodsofmathematicalanalysis.Explanatorygrammariansobserveandstudylanguagephenomena,andfurthermore,explaintheirdistinctions,causesandorigins.SomeprincipalschoolsofExplanatoryGrammar:a.HistoricalGrammar-Itstudiesthedevelopmentofalanguagefromtheview-pointofhistory,dealingwiththestudyofmorphologyandsyntax.Departingfromthetraditionsofprescriptivegrammar,historicalgrammariansexpoundallkindsofphenomenaofEnglishaccordingtothehistoricalprinciples,avoidingestablishingsomeabstractrulestoguideor“purify”thelanguage.b.ComparativeGrammar-Itmakesalotofcomparisonbetweenthedifferentlanguagesconcernedorbetweenthecorrespondinggrammaticalrelationsofonelanguageatdifferentstagesofhistory.c.Transformational-generativeGrammar-ThefounderisanAmericanlinguist,N.Chomsky.Inhiswell-knowngrammarbook“SyntacticStructures”,hesetsforthhisnewandoriginalviewsongrammar.Hethinksgrammarmustbesimpleandclear,andmustpossesstheabilityofgeneration,thatis,theabilitytoproduceinfinitesentencesaccordingtothegrammar.Heholdsthateverynativespeakerofalanguageisbornwithasetoflinguisticacquisitiondeviceandthatthemathematicalpatternsmustbeusedtomakegrammarsimpleandclear.Heputsforwardawholesetofstrictsystematicformulas,i.e.thetransformationalrules,fromwhichthepracticalspeechcanbeproduced.Oneofitsoutstandingfeaturesistheadvancingofthedistinctionbetween“surfacestructure”and“deepstructure”ofthesentence.Conclusion:Finally,letuscometothequestion“HowshouldweproperlythinkofTraditionalGrammar?”Asalinguistictheoreticbranch,TraditionalGrammarhasalreadybeenlastingformorethan2,000years.Itcertainlyhasitsownadvantagesandhasgivensomeimportantcontributionstolanguagestudyingandteaching.Itmakesthestudyofalanguageeasierbygivingdefinitions,makingrulesandprovidingillustrations.Thebasicgrammaticalconceptssuchaspartsofspeech,membersofthesentence,methodsofanalyzingsentenceswordbyword,etc.dohelpthelearnerstomastersyntacticstructures,comprehendessaysandreadtheoriginalsmoreeasily.Moreover,ithashadsomeinfluenceupontheestablishmentanddevelopmentofothergrammaticalschools.TraditionalGrammar,however,hasitsowndeficiencyandshortcomings.First,itputsstressonthemorphologyanddoesnotpayenoughattentiontothesyntax.Astheresult,itisusuallynoteasyforlearnerstomakesentencesbothinrightstructureandagreeingwiththehabits.Thenthetraditionalgrammarattachesimportancetothewrittenlanguagebutnottotheorallanguage,andthusthecommunicativeandsocialfunctionsofthelanguageareoverlooked.Inaddition,itsdefinitionsandrulesaremadebylogicalreasoningandbasedonvariousstandards,andsotheylackcontinuity.Forexample,somepartsofspeechareclassifiedbythemeaning(suchasnoun,verbandinterjection),somebytheirfunctions(pronoun,adjective,adverb,conjunction),andsomebyboth(preposition).Manycontemporarylinguistssharplycriticizeandblamethetraditionalgrammar,andsomeevenregarditassubjectivismor“rationalism.Inotherwords,theyconsiderittobethesynonymofnon-”science.Itisnecessaryandhelpfultopointoutthedeficiencyandshortcomingsofthetraditionalgrammar,butitisnotpracticaltothrowitallawayatpresent.Wemustseethatwiththedevelopmentoflanguage,thetraditionalgrammarhasbeenimprovingitselfconstantly,particularlydrawingsomeresearchresultsofthestructuralgrammarandtransformationalgrammar.Inourcountry,especiallyinmiddleschoolsandmostcolleges,theg