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Essay / The Internal Grammar of a Language - 1946
Every human creation or human endowment derives its glamor from its structure, system and functional value. The internal grammar of a language is only properly captured when the linguist-grammarian or teacher-grammarian first understands the ingredients that give the grammar its glamour. It’s important to remember that “glamorous” is actually an alternative grammar spelling. Whether it is the architecture of synchronic grammar (Halliday and Mathiessen 2004) or the architecture of diachronic grammar (Vesser 1973) or the genesis of syntactic complexity (Givon 2009). or even the neurological bases of language (Ramachandran 2010), we must manage the three ingredients of glamour/grammar: STRUCTURE, SYSTEM and FUNCTION. If someone says that meaning is not the purview of linguistics, then that theory is flawed because it ignores the actual function of language. Any human creation or any human gift becomes presentable and is considered to have glamor only when its structure, system and functional value are perceived holistically. This holistic perception is in other words the grammar of the given endowment or creation. By the way, the word glamor is considered a corruption of Scottish English grammar meaning enchantment, fate. Anyone who delves deeper into the grammar of a language finds it truly alluring and enchanting. There is a Sanskrit saying that goes: A grammarian feels happier when he can save half a syllable in a grammatical formula than when he begets a son. Ancient Indians considered grammar a sacred subject because it helped them maintain the authenticity of a grammatical formula. sacred text. They included in Grammar...... middle of paper...... 2004. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. 3rd edition. London: Hodder Arnold.Prakasam, V. 1970 The syntactic patterns of Telugu and English: a study in contrast analysis. Hyderabad: CIEFL (Manograph 5) Prakasam, V. 1985 The Linguistic Spectrum, Patiala: Punjabi University Publication Bureau. Prakasam, V. 1996 “Constructions ‘NGp of NGp’: A Functional – Structural Study” in MargaretBerry et al (eds). Meaning and Form: Systemic Functional Interpretations Norwood, NewJersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.Ramachandran, VS 2010. The Revealing Brain. Noida: Random House IndiaShiny, KP 2007 Tense and Aspect: A Pedagogical Linguistic Study (M.Phil Thesis, MaduraiKamaraj University) Sinclair, J. 1991 Corpus, Concordance, Collocation, London: Oxford University Press. Vesser, F.Th. 1973. A historical study of the English language, Leide: EJ Brill.