Traditional Grammar Vs Linguistics Prepared by Zainab Hmito

Traditional Grammar Vs Linguistics Prepared by : Zainab Hmito Fatima Akouaou

Introduction Traditional grammar Linguistics The differences: Schools of linguistics The characteristics: Weaknesses Strengths Conclusion

Introduction

Traditional grammar The approach to language which was developed through: Greeks Roman Arabo-Islamic scholarship The Middle Ages the Renaissance…

Linguistics: The scientific study of language. According to Fatima Sadiqi and Moha Ennaji (1999): “linguistics has two major goals : 1)-bringing our unconscious knowledge of language to the level of consciousness by familiarizing us with this linguistic knowledge. 2)-studying how the different units of language are combined and how they operate in the human brain. ”

Components of linguistics: q It can be subdivided into five major components : § § § Phonetics: The study of the characteristics of speech sounds. Phonology: The study of speech sounds of a language and the way they are combined to form words. Morphology: The study of the structure , forms and classes of words. Syntax: The study of sentence structure. Semantics:

Schools of linguistics The structuralist school q q Ferdinand de Saussure, Leonard Bloomfield. language is a structure that can be studied independently from other aspects of human behavior. The functionalist school q q M. A. K Halliday, John Searl Both structure and function must be taken into account to understand the nature of language. The mentalist school q Noam Chomsky “Primarily , I am intrigued by the possibility of learning something From the study of language , that will bring to light inherent properties of the human mind”. Noam Chomsky.

Differences

Differences Between Traditional Grammar and Linguistics Traditional grammar Linguistics T. G study language in relation to other disciplines. Linguistics study language as a complex and organized system of communication. study is not an autonomous subject. Language study is an autonomous subject. T. G explains how features of language are related to the human beings. Linguistics explains how features of language are related to each other.

Traditional grammar linguistics T. G pays more attention to the written form of the language Linguistics puts emphasis on the spoken medium. T. G is prescriptive. Linguistics is descriptive. T. G is interested more in syntax. Linguistics has a brooder scope for research.

TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR LINGUISTICS T. G puts emphasis on grammar than on any other aspect of the language. Linguistics analyses all the aspects of language. T. G deals with language mostly from the diachronic point of view. Linguistics assumes that synchronic study has a priority over diachronic study. No notational conventions were used. Specific notational conventions used to refer to the data of language.

Characteristics

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: Traditional grammar Distinctions: It distinguishes rational, emotional, and conventional types of discourse in theory, if not in grammatical practice. Through It, ordinary students and scholars have mastered many languages successfully for centuries.

Strengths: Traditional grammar It is well understood, and applied by most of those who teach it and have studied it.

Strengths: Linguistics Empirical: A study that examines speech and writing forms through a justifiable operation. Objectivity: All the languages are equal. Universality: All the languages share aspects beside their uniqueness.

Weaknesses: Traditional grammar Inconsistency : Its rules are based frequently on illogical ground. Exclusion : It excludes usages which are not applicable to it rules by referring to it as : “ungrammatical”, “exceptions”, “idioms”, … Subjectivity : Some languages are more sophisticated and cultured than other.

Weaknesses: Linguistics It has produced no complete grammars comparing to the exhaustive treatments by the traditional methods. Concentrating on critical studies of how grammars should be written. Only description of language was the concern of linguistics, however, this situation has changed in recent years.

Conclusion

References: Newmeyer, FJ. (ed. ) (1988) Linguistics: The Cambridge Survey. Cambridge: C. U. P. Robins, R. H. (1967). A short History of Linguistics. London: Longmans. Fatima Sadiqi, Moha Ennaji. (1999). Introduction To Modern Linguistics. Afrique-Orient.

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