Major types of grammatical description

INTRODUCTION TO

THEORETICAL GRAMMAR:

1. The subject and the aim of Theoretical English Grammar.
2. Major trends in theoretical grammar of Modern English:

a) Classical English grammar;

b) Descriptive (Structuralist) approach;

c) Transformational grammar;

d) Generative semantics;

e) Textual linguistics;

f) Functional Communicative Approach;

g) Cognitive Grammar.

1. The subject and the aim of English Theoretical Grammar

Theoretical grammar of the modern English language studies its grammatical system as a whole. As “grammar deals with the general facts of language” [Jespersen 1958: 32] and is “the organizational nucleus of every language” [Dixon 2009: 1], it is mainly concerned with the description or modeling of English sentences in discourse, particularly their constituents and their relations to each other [English Grammar Leipzig 1977: 22]. Thus the task of linguists – specialists in theoretical grammar - is to give an adequate systemic description of linguistic phenomena. The main difficulty in this respect is the fact that linguists can handle the task of interpreting linguistic phenomena in different ways. The format of language description depends on the linguistic school or trend this or that scholar belongs to. Thus one of the main tasks of the Course in Theoretical English Grammar is to help students survey and estimate this or that linguistic theory, to unfold theoretical background in which this or that theory emerged, to teach students of English a many-sided approach to different linguistic facts, to give a well-grounded theoretical description of language, mainly of its grammatical system, to identify grammatical categories and basic laws of grammatical formation of utterances out of words in the process of speech. To achieve this goal students are to master major notions and terms which make up the notional and terminological basis of Theoretical Grammar as a scholarly discipline.

Thus, the course discusses present-day grammatical theory and gives a critical review of various approaches. It presents the central issues of grammar and linguistic theory at large, shows how and why these questions were posed, what the answers were, and how these have led to new questions. Thus a historical overview offers a baseline from which to survey modern developments and breakthrough achievements. A historical perspective proves that linguistic theory is far from constituting dogma though it keeps before us a contingency of theoretical assumptions.

1. Major trends in Theoretical Grammar of the English language

“In grammar there are no unchallenged or unchallengeable explanations”[1] due to the fact that grammatical theory is an ever-changing theory and it is represented in modern times by several types of grammatical description. The most influential and widely spread grammatical systems by far have been classical (scientific, or traditional) grammar, structuralist (descriptive) linguistics, transformational grammar, generative semantics, textual linguistics. The list of major trends has been extended of late by functional communicative approach and cognitive grammar. All the types of grammatical description present their own approach to and their view of the study of linguistic structure thus adding something to the world of grammar. A grammarian cannot help but turn to this theoretical background as “nothing is more helpful in acquiring an understanding of the principles of modern linguistics than some knowledge of the history of the subject”[2]. Thus, the principles of modern grammatical description are established more transparently against the historical backdrop since they are set either as a continuing and developing tradition or as drastic revision and even rejection.

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