If you look up the word grammar in a dictionary, you will find that this word has many different meanings and usages, three of which are particularly relevant to the study of morphology and syntax.

Grammar as a description of a particular language

One definition of grammar is a collection of rules that describe a particular language. Sometimes when people refer to the grammar of a language, they mean just the syntax rules, but other times, they mean all of the rules of the language, including phonological rules.

However, remember that when we are talking about the rules of the language, we mean descriptive rules, not prescriptive rules. Descriptive rules are not rules like a speed limit, where some authority tells you how fast you should drive and you can choose to ignore or follow the rule—and if you ignore it, you might have to pay a fine or even go to jail.

Rather, these are rules like the law of gravity, which exists because scientists studied the properties of the world and wrote a law that describes what’s happening. You don’t choose whether or not to follow the law of gravity. If you do break it, and start floating away, you won’t get in trouble! Instead, scientists will be very curious about what’s going on!

Some examples of descriptive rules of English are listed in example (1).

Pedagogical grammars are designed to help people learn a language in order to speak, write, or sign it. They often contain example dialogues, vocabulary, and practice exercises. They will also often explain grammatical patterns using non-technical vocabulary, ideally starting with the most useful constructions and vocabulary.

A reference grammar is designed for linguists or other scholars to look up the properties of a particular language. Reference grammars may be purely descriptive, simply describing the properties of the language in question, or they may have a theoretical approach, using the properties of a particular language to make claims about human language in general. Some reference grammars will only cover morphology and syntax, but others may cover phonology as well.

Grammar as a model of Language

In the study of syntax and morphology, the most important meaning of the word grammar is a scientific model of the entire system and structure of the human capacity for language. In other words, any theory of morphosyntax which accounts for how all of the components of language structure work together to result in the possible languages of the world could be considered a grammar.

A scientific model is a representation of a system, an organism, a process, or a phenomenon. In this case, what we are modelling is the human capacity for Language. This does not mean we are studying a particular language, like French, Anishinaabemowin, or American Sign Language, but the cognitive ability of humans to use language.

This model of Language has to account for the ways that diverse languages are similar, but also for the ways that languages are different. It needs to account for how children acquire language, both the process and the timing. It should also be compatible with all of the individual rules of particular human languages, since all of those languages are the result of the human capacity for Language.

A model like this consists of a collection of hypotheses. Each of these hypotheses needs to be tested and revised to help us develop the most accurate model of Language.

As we test and revise our models, we look to see what kind of data it can explain. Chomsky (1965) proposed three levels of adequacy:

1. An observationally adequate grammar accounts for all of the real-world data that we observe.
2. A descriptively adequate grammar not only accounts for the real-world data that we observe, but also speaker judgments about what is or is not ungrammatical, therefore including negative evidence.
3. An explanatorily adequate grammar accounts for all of the above, while also explaining how language is acquired.

We aim for an explanatorily adequate grammar, as that kind of model enables us to explain the most kinds of data.

Check yourself!

References and further resources

Reference materials

Bloomfield, Leonard. 1957. Eastern Ojibwa: Grammatical sketch, texts and word list. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

Liu, Yuehua, Tao-chung Yao, Nyan-Ping Bi, Liangyan Ge, and Yaohua Shi. 2009. Integrated Chinese, level 1, part 1: Textbook, simplified characters. 3rd edition. Boston: Cheng and Tsui Company.

Academic sources

Chomsky, Noam. 1965. Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

📑 Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig, eds. 2023. Ethnologue: Languages of the world. Twenty-sixth edition. Dallas, TX: SIL International. http://www.ethnologue.com.uml.idm.oclc.org