Ch. 1 and 2

One thing I found interesting throughout the first two chapters was that at first, the sentence patterns seemed very complex. I found myself getting hung up on simple structures like verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs..blah blah blah. It's relieving to see that the 'pattern' concept is self explanatory. They are patterns, and once you recognize how they work, they make more sense (most of the time).

Question: Do you think that our innate abilities to write, is in itself, its own grammar? In other words; by writing your own way, correctly, incorrectly, so on and so forth, whatever...can you agree that even though it may be incorrect according to our language rules, that it still can be considered correct in your own grammatical style? Maybe my horrible grammar is a testament to this...lol.

Chp 1 & 2

I think the thing that I found the most interesting was at the beginning of Chapter 1 when the author mentioned that both the Greeks and Romans placed a lot of importance on the study of grammar. Being an English major, I have always associated this part of history with the importance of the art of oratory. I know that there were some written texts at the time, but I always thought that they were rare. I have always associated grammar with the written form of language and not necessarily with what is spoken.

I know we talked about how grammar was not being taught in schools, so my question is this,

Do you think it is important to know grammar in order to be a good writer?

I have very definite opinions about this question but I would like to know what the rest of the group thinks about this.

Ch 1&2 plus grammar question

I found the changes in the lanuage of the Pinocchio translation very interesting (Ch 1). It seems strange that the editors would feel a need to adjust the language, the book was written in 1880. Obviously, the language of 1880 is very different from that of today. Why even try to modernize? In fact, I think it would be more interesting to read the 1880 version.

My question regarding grammar or language is: What changes in language have you noticed since you've been aware of lanuage?

Interests from Chapters 1 & 2 plus Question

I was really interested with the way the book talked about the formation of the many modern handbooks and usage manuals and how the idealized version's purpose was, "to propagate the ideals of gentlemenly culture...of regularity and order and exact logic." This idea of relating to a specific culture that was at that time (the 17th century) not savy in the way of such a high order.

Question:

How important do feel grammar is in the area of propoganda and advertising? Is it something that you pay attention to during the day as you are bombarded by ads?

Question about grammar/language

My question for the class regarding grammar and language is: What are the pros and cons of having different dialects and regionalisms and how do you think this will affect the result of grammar and language in the future?

Interests from Chap 1 & 2

Within chapters 1 and 2, I am most interested in the history of grammar. I am intrigued by the way grammar and language has come about and how they have shaped the way we speak and write today. Extensively, they have also had profound effects on our culture and how we communicate with eachother.

I found this quotation from Understanding English Grammar interesting:

In 1693 the English philosopher John Locke declared that the purpose of teaching grammar was "to teach men not to speak, but to speak correctly and according to the exact Rules of the Tongue." These words of Locke define the concept that today we call prescriptive grammar.

I find the use of the word "speak" important in this quotation. I think it's odd that we insist on our written grammar being precise and yet our spoken language is not as precise. I mean that when we hang out with friends we don't generally follow the rules of grammar very closely. Yet, when writting a paper for class we make sure our grammar is correct. This brings up my question:

Why do we strive to make our written grammar precise but when speaking we are less formal and less precise with our grammar?

My grammar question is:
How important is grammar for language and also for communication (especially for second language speakers)- couldn´t we communicate without grammar?

So readng chapter 1 and 2 of our "understanding grammar" book, I thought it was very interesting that there are different definitions of grammar- and not only definitions but also different kinds of grammar. I always thought grammar is just about the rules of correct sentence formation, which in my newly gained knowledge now represents the prescriptive grammar. However grammar seems to be a lot more flexible than that. Descriptive grammar "describes the way people speak" ( Kolln, 2006, p.4) and so it is not only about setting rules for language but also about receiving input from the language. Therefore grammar changes with language changing constantly. This is what makes a language alive, the change that it undergoes.