STRUCTURES OF ENGLISH

BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN

ENGLISH

ALL NATIONS COLLEGE

SCHOOL YEAR: 2023 - 2024

ANNA DOMINIQUE M. SOLON

 GRAMMAR AND OUR KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE

 What is a Grammar in English?

grammar (noun): the structure and system of a language, or of
languages in general, usually considered to consist of syntax and
morphology

Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe

grammar as the "rules" of a language; but in fact no language has rules*.
If we use the word "rules", we suggest that somebody created the rules
first and then spoke the language, like a new game. But languages did
not start like that. Languages started by people making sounds which
evolved into words, phrases and sentences. No commonly-spoken
language is fixed. All languages change over time. What we call
"grammar" is simply a reflection of a language at a particular time.

At a high level, the definition of grammar is a system of rules that allow us to

structure sentences. It includes several aspects of the English language, like:

• Parts of speech (verbs, adjectives, nouns, adverbs, prepositions,

conjunctions, modifiers, etc.)
• Clauses (e.g. independent, dependent, compound)attention-seeking group)
• Punctuation (like commas, semicolons, and periods — when applied to
usage)in the short- and long-haul)
• Mechanics of language (like word order, semantics, and sentence
structure)in the short- and long-haul)
Grammar’s wide scope can make proofreading difficult. And the dry, academic
conversations that often revolve around it can make people’s eyes glaze over.
But without these grammatical rules, chaos would ensue. So even if you aren’t
a fan (and who really is?), it’s still important to understand.
Five authors on grammar

If anyone appreciates the role of grammar, it’s writers:

• “Ill-fitting grammar are like ill-fitting shoes. You can get used to it
for a bit, but then one day your toes fall off and you can’t walk to the
bathroom.” – novelist Jasper F forde
• “The greater part of the world’s troubles are due to questions of
grammar.” – philosopher Michel de Montaigneattention-seeking
group)
• “And all dared to brave unknown terrors, to do mighty deeds, to
boldly split infinitives that no man had split before — and thus was
the Empire forged.” – novelist Douglas Adamsin the short- and
long-haul)
• “Grammar is a piano I play by ear. All I know about grammar is its
power.” – American writer Joan Didionin the short- and long-haul)

Six examples of grammar rules

Here are six common grammar mistakes (and example sentences) to

help you improve your writing:

Semicolon use: Semicolons are typically used to connect related

ideas — but often a new sentence (instead of a semicolon) is more
fitting.
Ending a sentence with a preposition: Some used to consider it
wrong to end with a preposition (e.g. to, of, with, at, from), but now
it’s acceptable in most informal contexts.

Splitting infinitives: Avoid it in formal settings, otherwise, it’s fine.

Beginning a sentence with because: It’s ok as long as the sentence

is complete.
Subject-verb agreement: The verb of a sentence should match the
subject’s plurality (or singularity).

Passive voice: In general, use active voice — that means the subject
acts upon the verb. In passive voice, the verb acts upon the subject,
resulting in a weaker sentence.

Grammar FAQ

What’s the difference between grammar and syntax?

Syntax is the way we arrange words and phrases, and the

rules that apply to sentence structure. So it falls under the
grammar umbrella, but is not the same thing.
 System of Language
Language is a structured system of communication that consists
of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by
which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and written forms, and may
also be conveyed through sign languages. Human language is characterized
by its cultural and historical diversity, with significant variations observed
between cultures and across time.[1] Human languages possess the
properties of productivity and displacement, which enable the creation of an
infinite number of sentences, and the ability to refer to objects, events, and
ideas that are not immediately present in the discourse. The use of human
language relies on social convention and is acquired through learning.

regarding the definition of language and meaning, when used as a general

concept, "language" may refer to the cognitive ability to learn and use
systems of complex communication, or to describe the set of rules that
makes up these systems, or the set of utterances that can be produced from
those rules. All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate signs to
particular meanings. Oral, manual and tactile languages contain
a phonological system that governs how symbols are used to form
sequences known as words or morphemes, and a syntactic system that
governs how words and morphemes are combined to form phrases and
utterances.
  Discussion

Phonology

is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages systematically organize

their phones or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term
can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a particular language
variety. At one time, the study of phonology related only to the study of the
systems of phonemes in spoken languages, but may now relate to any linguistic
analysis either:

a. at a level beneath the word (including syllable, onset

and rime, articulatory gestures, articulatory features, mora, etc.), or
b. all levels of language in which sound or signs are structured to
convey linguistic meaning.[1]
Sign languages have a phonological system equivalent to the system of sounds
in spoken languages. The building blocks of signs are specifications for
movement, location, and handshape.[2] At first, a separate terminology was
used for the study of sign phonology ("chereme" instead of "phoneme", etc.),
but the concepts are now considered to apply universally to all human
languages.

Terminology
The word "phonology" (as in "phonology of English") can refer either to the
field of study or to the phonological system of a given language. This is one of
the fundamental systems that a language is considered to comprise, like
its syntax, its morphology and its lexicon. The word phonology comes
from Ancient Greek φωνή, phōnḗ, 'voice, sound', and the suffix -logy (which is
from Greek λόγος, lógos, 'word, speech, subject of discussion').
Phonology is typically distinguished from phonetics, which concerns the
physical production, acoustic transmission and perception of the sounds or
signs of language. Phonology describes the way they function within a given
language or across languages to encode meaning. For many linguists, phonetics
belongs to descriptive linguistics and phonology to theoretical linguistics, but
establishing the phonological system of a language is necessarily an application
of theoretical principles to analysis of phonetic evidence in some theories. The
distinction was not always made, particularly before the development of the
modern concept of the phoneme in the mid-20th century. Some sub fields of
modern phonology have a crossover with phonetics in descriptive disciplines
such as psycholinguistics and speech perception, which result in specific areas
like articulatory phonology or laboratory phonology
Morpheme
is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field
of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.
In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that
stand alone are considered roots (such as the morpheme cat); other morphemes,
called affixes, are found only in combination with other morphemes. For
example, the -s in cats indicates the concept of plurality but is always bound to
another concept to indicate a specific kind of plurality.
This distinction is not universal and does not apply to, for example, Latin, in
which many roots cannot stand alone. For instance, the Latin root reg- ('king')
must always be suffixed with a case marker: rex (reg-s), reg-is, reg-i, etc. For a
language like Latin, a root can be defined as the main lexical morpheme of a
word.
These sample English words have the following morphological analyses:

 "Unbreakable" is composed of three morphemes: un- (a bound

morpheme signifying "not"), break (the root, a free morpheme), and -able (a
bound morpheme signifying "an ability to be done").
 The plural morpheme for regular nouns (-s) has three allomorphs: it is
pronounced /s/ (e.g., in cats /kæts/), /ɪz, əz/ (e.g., in dishes /dɪʃɪz/),
and /z/ (e.g., in dogs /dɒɡz/), depending on the pronunciation of the root.
Syntax
Syntax in English is the arrangement of words and phrases in a specific order. If
you change the position of even one word, it’s possible to change the meaning
of the entire sentence. All languages have specific rules about which words go
where, and skilled writers can manipulate these rules to make sentences
sound more poignant or poetic.
When it comes to language, syntax is an advanced topic, which can make it
difficult to understand. In this guide, we discuss the basic rules and types of
syntax so you can communicate effectively, including some syntax examples.
First, let’s start with a more thorough syntax definition.

In linguistics, syntax (/ˈsɪntæks/ SIN-taks) is the study of how words

and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences.
Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations,
hierarchical sentence structure (constituency), agreement, the nature of cross
linguistic variation, and the relationship between form and meaning (semantics).
There are numerous approaches to syntax that differ in their central
assumptions and goals.

What is syntax in linguistics?

Not to be confused with syntax in programming, syntax in linguistics refers to
the arrangement of words and phrases. Syntax covers topics like word
order and grammar rules, such as subject-verb agreement or the correct
placement of direct and indirect objects.

Syntax is essential to understanding constituency, the term for multiple words

acting as a single unit. In long and complex sentences, constituency is
necessary to determine the hierarchy within the sentence, particularly
with sentence diagramming.

Just how important is syntax in English? Changing the placement of a word

often changes the meaning of the sentence. Sometimes the change is minor,
useful for writers who like nuance and subtext, but sometimes the change is
more significant, giving the entire sentence a whole new interpretation.
To see for yourself, look at the syntax examples below. Notice how moving the
word only changes the meaning of the entire sentence.
Keep in mind that only can be an adjective or an adverb; adjectives modify
the nouns that come after them, and adverbs modify the verbs, adjectives, or
other adverbs that come after them.

Only Batman fights crime.

Meaning: Batman is the only person who fights crime. No one except Batman
fights crime, not even Superman.
Batman only fights crime.
Meaning: Fighting crime is the only thing Batman does. He doesn’t work, he
doesn’t shower—fighting crime is all he does.
Batman fights only crime.
Meaning: Batman doesn’t fight anything except crime. He doesn’t fight Alfred
or Robin; he doesn’t fight the dry cleaner if they accidentally stain his shirt.
Crime is the only thing he fights.
Semantics or Semiosis
(from Ancient Greek σημείωσις (sēmeíōsis), from σημειῶ (sēmeiô) 'to mark'),
or sign process, is any form of activity, conduct, or process that involves signs,
including the production of meaning. A sign is anything that communicates a
meaning, that is not the sign itself, to the interpreter of the sign. The meaning
can be intentional such as a word uttered with a specific meaning, or
unintentional, such as a symptom being a sign of a particular medical condition.
Signs can communicate through any of the senses, visual, auditory, tactile,
olfactory, or taste.

Semiosis is the performance element involving signs. Although a

human can communicate many things unintentionally, individuals usually
speak or write to elicit some kind of response. Yet there is little real
explanation of how semiosis produces its effects, which is odd given that the
word "sign" is in everyday use and most people would understand what it
means. But semiotics has not offered clear technical definitions, nor is there
agreement about how signs should be classified.
Pragmatics
Pragmatics is an important branch of linguistics in the English language. It
helps us look beyond the literal meaning of words and utterances and allows us
to focus on how meaning is constructed in specific contexts. When we
communicate with other people, there is a constant negotiation of meaning
between the listener and the speaker. Pragmatics looks at this negotiation and
aims to understand what people mean when they communicate with each other.

What is the history of pragmatics?

Pragmatics in the English language is one of the youngest of the linguistic
disciplines. However, its history can be traced back to the 1870s and the
philosophers Charles Sanders Pierce, John Dewey, and William James.
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words as tools for
understanding the world and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to
mirror reality directly. Pragmatists suggest that all philosophical thought,
including language, is best understood in terms of its practical uses. In 1947,
Charles Morris drew upon pragmatism and his background in philosophy,
sociology, and anthropology to set out his theory of pragmatics in his book
'Signs, Language and Behaviour'. Morris said that pragmatics "deals with the
origins, uses, and effects of signs within the total behaviour of the interpreters
of signs." ¹ In the case of pragmatics, signs refer to the movements, gestures,
body language, and tone of voice that usually accompanies speech rather than
physical signs, such as road signs.

What are some examples of pragmatics?

Pragmatics considers the meaning of language within its social context and
refers to how we use words in a practical sense. To understand what is
genuinely being said, we must examine the contexts (including the physical
location) and look out for social cues, for example, body language and tone of
voice. Let's look at some different pragmatic examples, and their contextual
meaning, and see if it starts to make a bit more sense.

Example 1:

Picture this: You and your friend are sitting in your bedroom studying, and she
says, 'It's hot in here. Can you crack open a window?

If we take this literally, your friend is asking you to crack the window - to
damage it. However, taken in context, we can infer that they are actually asking
for the window to be opened a little.
Example 2:

Picture this: You're talking to a neighbour and they look bored. Your neighbour
keeps looking at their watch, and they don't appear to be paying much attention
to what you're saying. Suddenly, they say, 'Gosh, would you look at the time!

The literal meaning is that your neighbour is instructing you to look at the time.
However, we can infer that they are trying to get away from the conversation
due to their general body language.

Why is pragmatics important?

Pragmatics is key to understanding language use in context and is a useful basis
for understanding language interactions. Imagine a world where you had to
explain everything you meant in full; there could be no slang, jokes probably
wouldn't be funny, and conversations would be twice as long! Let's take a look
at what life would be like without pragmatics.

What time do you call this?! '

Literal meaning = What time is it?

Real meaning = Why are you so late?!

Because of the insights of pragmatics, we know that the speaker does not
actually want to know what time it is, but is making the point that the other
person is late. In this case, it would be best to apologize rather than give the
speaker the time!
References

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/what.php
https://writer.com/blog/what-is-grammar-grammar-definition-and-examples/
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d8/6a/a3/d86aa3fbf2523a015d2cf42a0fb15e37.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiosis
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OX-V425Ayv4/T556EVyrk-
I/AAAAAAAAABQ/b1YOR_m1t5U/s1600/Semiotics+Infographic.jpg
https://image3.slideserve.com/5704385/what-is-phonology-l.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/morphosyntaxkel3-161101144740/95/morphology-word-
and-its-parts-root-and-afixes-3-638.jpg?cb=1489763206
https://keystoliteracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ooo.png
https://image1.slideserve.com/3022111/types-of-morphology-l.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/b8slsz2elCE/maxresdefault.jpg
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english/pragmatics/
https://helpfulprofessor.com/pragmatics-examples/