LECTURE 7

Grammar

is a set of implicit rules that govern the formation of sentences. We may not know specific rules, but we obey them everytime we speak

Usage

consists of specific rules people create for language to distinguish grammatically acceptable sentences from unacceptable ones in a social context

performance grammar

refers to the way language is actually used by speakers in real-life communication

competence grammar

the thereotical understanding of a language's rules

descriptive grammar

an approach to understanding and explaining how a language is used naturally by its speakers. it describes the patters, structures and rules without prescribing what is correct or ideal

prescriptive grammar

it provides recommendations on how language should be used, often based on traditional norms or conventions

formal grammar

has clear rules that describe how sentences and words are structured in a language

Distributional properties

in grammar look at how words fit into sentences, like whether they go with "was" or "were" in a sentence

inflectional properties

in grammar are changes to words, like adding -s to "cat" to make it plural

derivational properties

in grammar involve forming new words by adding affixes to change meaning or grammatical category

Person

Relating to the speaker or others

Number

singular/plural, countability

Gender

natural (boy/he) and grammatical (German "das Madchen")

Case

grammatical categories like subjective, agentive, objective, instrumental, possessive and local cases

Tense

Deictic (now as zero point)

Mood

indicative, imperative, subjunctive (commands, intentions etc)

Aspect

perfective, imperfective, iterative, punctual, habitual, inchoative