Conceptions of Grammar

Grammar is the underlying structure of a language. It includes phonology, morphology, syntax, style and semantics. It can be prescriptive, descriptive, or generative, depending on the focus of the person studying. Grammar has undergone a complete transformation over time.

Ancient and Medieval Grammars

The Greeks first developed grammar to study literary language. Later, the Romans adopted the Greek system. Latin grammarians, focused on discovering structures and protecting language from decay. Finally, grammarians from Port-Royal sought a universal grammar that was more focused on linguistics.

Modern and Contemporary Grammars

In the century 1700, grammars of 61 language dialects were printed for standardizing language. This prescriptive approach dominated schools. However, historical linguistics scholars studied all types of written records of modern European languages, including dialects and contemporary spoken languages.

Grammar in Different Forms of Writing

In today’s modern era, grammar has taken different forms. It has various rules for each type of writing. Here is how it works.

Academic Writing:

In academic writing, all the grammar rules are strictly followed. The text is written in a formal tone with perfect use of adjectives , adverbs , complex sentence structure, no slang, no contractions , and is described in a third-person perspective.

Business Writing:

For business or professional writing, the wording and structure used are easy to read. It uses relevant technical terms to be precise. The aim of business writing is to communicate so the language is clear and the structure is readable.

Creative Writing:

This is the form of writing, where you are not bound by the grammar. You can let the artist inside you jot down the imagination without having to follow all the strict grammar rules. You can invent new analogies and use them in writing creatively.