Chapter 1 Introduction

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 THE LANGUAGE FOR COMMUNICATION: A HYPOTHESIS
1.0.1 Language is the great gift that distinguishes human beings from other
creatures. Like most gifts, it can be used thoughtfully and to a good advantage- or it can
be used carelessly, indifferently, and quite unsuccessfully. The way in which one uses
language can tell people a good deal about one’s personal qualities-one’s way of
thinking, one’s alertness , one’s concern for useful communication with other people and
one’s concern, one’s respect, for the English language itself. When one’s speech is
sloppy, other people are likely to assume that his thinking has flaws because his language
does. People may also assume that, you will not fit in well in business or professional or
social situations where proper use of language is taken for granted, because your
language is inadequately serving its most basic purpose, to convey clearly, what’s on
your mind. When one’s language does not meet expected standards, he is likely to do
serious injustice to his talents and ideas. A command of proper English provides a kind of
invisible passport into the company of social circles automatically. The use of standard
language is an asset rather than a liability. The best investment a nation can make is in the
proper education of its children. A nation which trains young people in the skills required
by employers (so they can become wage-slaves for the rest of their lives) but which
neglects to instill in them a curiosity about all things and a love of learning (rather than a
desire for continual entertainment of mindless nature) will soon become a nation of
barbarians. The language of transaction in the organized side of the business world in
India, today and tomorrow is English.

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1.0.2 A large part of where one will end up in one’s career will depend on his
comfort with this language in different modes of communication, oral and written, from
talking on the phone to making that killer presentation. Many professions and businesses
for livelihood consider Standard English usage a prime requirement for employment in
typical responsible positions. The acquisition of a Standard English involves certain
skills. Syntax forms part of such skills.
1.1 SYNTAX AND COMMON ERRORS:
1.1.1 Along with sleeping, eating and drinking, talking is one the most common
of human activities. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t talk. Why do people talk? What
is language for? One common answer to this question is that language is a complex form
of communication, and that people talk in order to share or request information. That is
certainly a very important use of a language. An important design feature of human
language is the fact that larger units are composed of smaller units, and that arrangement
of these smaller units is significant. A sentence is not just a long series of speech sounds;
it is composed of words and phrases, which are arranged in a systematic way in order to
achieve speaker’s goals. Similarly words may be composed of smaller units, each of
which has its own meaning and which must be arranged in a particular way, according to
their grammatical properties. Phrases and sentences are built up by a series of merger
operations, each of which combines a pair of constituents together to form a larger
constituent.
1.1.2 When we speak, we utter a stream of sounds with a certain meaning,
which our interlocutors can process and understand, provided of course they speak the
same language. Apart from spoken medium, language also exists in written form. It then
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consists of letters which form words, which in turn make up sentences. If you have
thought about language, you will have realized that whether it is spoken or written, it has
structure, and that it is not a hotchpotch of randomly distributed elements. Instead, the
linguistic ingredients that language is made up of or arranged in accordance with a set of
rules. We call this set of rules the grammar of a language. Grammar is a vast domain of
inquiry and it will be necessary to limit ourselves to a sub domain. The study under
reference concerns itself with the common errors committed at the junior intermediate
level with the structure of sentences. From the grammatical point of view, it is called
Syntax.
1.2 INTERPRETATION:
1.2.1 The origin of the word ‘Syntax’ is found in Greek language, the meaning
of which is order or arrangement. Syntax deals with the relation of words to each other
as component parts of a sentence, and with their proper arrangement to express clearly
the intended meaning. Following the Latin method, writers Of English grammar usually
divide syntax into the two general heads,—agreement and government. Agreement is
concerned with the following relations of words: words in apposition, verb and subject,
pronoun and antecedent, adjective and noun.
1.2.2 Government has to do with verbs and prepositions, both of which are said
to govern words by having them in the objective case. Considering the scarcity of
inflections in English, it is clear that if we merely follow the Latin treatment, the
department of syntax will be a small affair. But there is a good deal else to watch in
addition to the few forms; for there is an important and marked difference between Latin
and English syntax. It is this:

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Latin syntax depends upon fixed rules governing the use of inflected forms: hence
the position of words in a sentence is of little grammatical importance.
1.3 ESSENTIAL POINT IN ENGLISH SYNTAX:
1.3.1 English syntax follows the Latin to a limited extent. But its leading
characteristic is, that English syntax is founded upon the meaning and the logical
connection of words rather than upon their form: consequently it is quite as necessary to
place words properly, and to think clearly of the meaning of words, as to study inflected
forms.
For example, the sentence, "The savage here the settler slew," is ambiguous. Savage
may be the subject, following the regular order of subject; or settler may be the subject,
the order being inverted. In Latin, distinct forms would be used, and it would not matter
which one stood first.
1.4 A FULL-FLEDGED DEPARTMENT
1.4.1 There is, then, a double reason for not omitting syntax as a department of
grammar. First, To study the rules regarding the use of inflected forms, some of which
conform to classical grammar, while some are idiomatic (peculiar to our own language).
Second, To find out the logical methods which control us in the arrangement of
words; and particularly when the grammatical and the logical conception of a sentence do
not agree, or when they exist side by side in good usage.

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1.4.2 Take the sentence, "Besides these famous books of Scott's and Johnson's,
there is a copious 'Life' by Sheridan." In this there is a possessive form, and added to it
the preposition of, also expressing a possessive relation. This is not logical; it is not
consistent with the general rules of grammar: but nonetheless, it is good English.
1.4.3 Also in the sentence, "None remained but he," grammatical rules would
require him instead of he after the preposition; yet the expression is sustained by good
authority.
1.5. FLEXIBILITY OF CERTAIN RULES:
1.5.1 In some cases, authorities—that is, standard writers—differ as to which of
two constructions should be used, or the same writer will use both indifferently. Instances
will be found in treating of the pronoun or noun with a gerund, pronoun and antecedent,
sometimes verb and subject, etc.
1.6 THE BASIS OF SYNTAX:
1.6.1 The treatment of syntax will be an endeavor to record the best usage of the
present time on important points; and nothing but important points will be considered, for
it is easy to confuse a student with too many obtrusive don'ts.
1.6.2 The constructions presented needs justification by quotations from modern
writers of English who are regarded as "standard;" that is, writers whose style is generally
acknowledged as superior, and whose judgment, therefore, will be accepted by those in
quest of authoritative opinion.

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1.6.3 It may be suggested to the student that the only way to acquire correctness is
to watch good usage everywhere, and imitate it.

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Gandhi 1

1.0 THE LANGUAGE FOR COMMUNICATION: A HYPOTHESIS

barbarians. The language of transaction in the organized side of the business world in

India, today and tomorrow is English.

comfort with this language in different modes of communication, oral and written, from

typical responsible positions. The acquisition of a Standard English involves certain

skills. Syntax forms part of such skills.

1.1 SYNTAX AND COMMON ERRORS:

certainly a very important use of a language. An important design feature of human

operations, each of which combines a pair of constituents together to form a larger

1.1.2 When we speak, we utter a stream of sounds with a certain meaning,

linguistic ingredients that language is made up of or arranged in accordance with a set of

pronoun and antecedent, adjective and noun.

and English syntax. It is this:

the position of words in a sentence is of little grammatical importance.

1.3 ESSENTIAL POINT IN ENGLISH SYNTAX:

which one stood first.

1.4 A FULL-FLEDGED DEPARTMENT

not agree, or when they exist side by side in good usage.

1.5. FLEXIBILITY OF CERTAIN RULES:

1.5.1 In some cases, authorities—that is, standard writers—differ as to which of

sometimes verb and subject, etc.

1.6 THE BASIS OF SYNTAX:

it is easy to confuse a student with too many obtrusive don'ts.

1.6.2 The constructions presented needs justification by quotations from modern

acknowledged as superior, and whose judgment, therefore, will be accepted by those in

quest of authoritative opinion.

to watch good usage everywhere, and imitate it.

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