Grammar book

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A grammar book is a book or treatise describing the grammar of one or more languages. In linguistics, such a book is itself frequently referred to as a grammar.

Contents

Etymology

Ancient Greek had the term τέκνή γραμματική (téchnē grammatikḗ, 'skill in the use of letters'), which was adapted into Latin as ars grammatica . This term was used in the title of works about writing and language, which came to be known in English as grammar-books or grammars. [1] : 72 

Definition

Although the style and content of grammar-books varies enormously, they generally aim for a fairly systematic and comprehensive survey of one language's phonetics, morphology, syntax and word-formation. Since languages vary across time, space, social groups, genres, and so forth, grammars inevitably cannot represent every single aspect of a language, but usually select a particular variety with a view to a particular readership. [1] : 73–74 

The readerships of grammars and their needs vary widely. Grammars may be intended for native-speakers of a language or for learners. Many grammars are written for use by children learning a language in a school environment. Many grammars are reference grammars, intended not to be read from beginning to end like a textbook, but to enable readers to check particular details as the need arises. Some grammars are prescriptive, aiming to tell readers how they ought to use language; others are descriptive, aiming to tell readers how language is used in reality. In either case, popular grammars can be enormously influential on language-use. [1] : 73–74 

History

The earliest known descriptive linguistic writing, leading to early grammar-books, took place in a Sanskrit community in northern India; the best known scholar of that linguistic tradition was Pāṇini, whose works are commonly dated to around the 5th century BCE. [2] The earliest known grammar of a Western language is the second-century BCE Art of Grammar attributed to Dionysius Thrax, a grammar of Greek.

Key stages in the history of English grammars include Ælfric of Eynsham's composition around 995 CE of a grammar in Old English based on a compilation of two Latin grammars, Aelius Donatus's Ars maior and Priscian's Institutiones grammaticae. This was intended for use by English-speaking students of Latin, and is the first known grammar of Latin written in a vernacular language, but was arguably also intended to use Latin as a basis for explaining English grammar. [3] A key step in the development of English grammars was the 1586 publication of William Bullokar's published his Pamphlet for Grammar, which used a framework derived from Latin grammars to show how English too had grammatical structures and rules. [1] : 74  Numerous grammars aimed at foreign learners of English, sometimes written in Latin, were published in the seventeenth century, while the eighteenth saw the emergence of English-language grammars aiming to instruct their Anglophone audiences in what the authors viewed as correct grammar, including an increasingly literate audience of women and children; this trend continued into the early twentieth century. [1] : 74–78  A key shift in grammar-writing is represented by Charles Carpenter Fries' 1952 The Structure of English, which aimed to give up-to-date, descriptive rather than prescriptive, information on English grammar, and drew on recordings of live speech to inform its claims. [1] : 74 

List of first printed grammars (1450–1800)

YearLanguageAuthorNotes
1451 Latin Aelius Donatus Donatus' Ars Minor was the first printed book by Johannes Gutenberg. [4]
1471 Ancient Greek Manuel Chrysoloras Chrysoloras' Erotemata was the first printed book in greek language. [5]
1489 Hebrew Moses Kimhi [6]
1492 Spanish Antonio de Nebrija Nebrija's Gramática de la lengua castellana is the first printed grammar of a vernacular language. [7]
1505 Andalusi Arabic Pedro de Alcalá [8]
1516 Italian Giovanni Francesco Fortunio [7]
1527 Biblical Aramaic Sebastian Münster [9]
1530 French John Palsgrave [10]
1533 Czech Beneš Optát [11]
1534 German Valentin Ickelsamer [7]
1536 Portuguese Fernão de Oliveira [12]
1539 Hungarian János Sylvester [13]
1539 Classical Arabic Guillaume Postel [14]
1539 Syriac Teseo Ambrogio written in collaboration with the Maronite monk Elias ibn Ibrahim. [15]
1543 Sicilian Claudio Mario d'Arezzo [16]
1552 Geʽez Mariano Vittoriowritten in collaboration with the ethiopian monk Täsfa Ṣǝyon. [17]
1558 Purépecha Maturino GilbertiGilberti's Arte de la lengua de Michoacán is first printed grammar of an American indigenous language. [18]
1560 Quechua Domingo de Santo Tomás [19]
1567 Welsh Gruffydd Robert [7]
1568 Polish Pierre Statorius [20]
1571 Nahuatl Alonso de Molina [18]
1578 Zapotec Juan de Córdova [18]
1584 Dutch Hendrik Laurenszoon Spiegel [7]
1584 Slovene Adam Bohorič [21]
1586 Church Slavonic anonymous [7]
1586 English William Bullokar [7]
1593 Mixtec Antonio de los Reyes [18]
1595 Tupi José de Anchieta known by the title Arte de gramática da língua mais usada na costa do Brasil [19]
1603 Aymara Ludovico Bertonio [19]
1604 Japanese João Rodrigues Tçuzu known by the title Arte da Lingoa de Iapam [22]
1604 Croatian Bartol Kašić [23]
1606 Mapuche Luis de Valdivia Valdivia also published in 1607 two other grammars for Allentiac and Millcayac languages. [19]
1610 Tagalog Francisco Blancas de San José [24]
1612 Malay Albert Cornelius Ruyl [25]
1612 Turkish Hieronymus Megiser based on manuscript written by Hector von Ernau. [26]
1614 Timucua Francisco Pareja [27]
1618 Hiligaynon Alonso de Méntrida [24]
1619 Chibcha Bernardo de Lugo [19]
1620 Yucatec Maya Juan Coronel [18]
1622 Modern Greek Girolamo Germano [7]
1624 Armenian Francesco Rivola [28]
1627 Ilocano Francisco Lopez [24]
1636 Coptic Athanasius Kircher Kircher's Prodromus Coptus was based on manuscript written by Yuhanna al-Samannudi. [29]
1637 Estonian Heinrich Stahl [7]
1637 Mazahua Diego de Nágera Yanguas [18]
1638 Basque Arnauld de Oihenart [30]
1639 Persian Louis de Dieu [31]
1640 Guarani Antonio Ruiz de Montoya [19]
1640 Konkani Thomas Stephens Stephens' Arte da Lingoa Canarim is the first printed grammar of any Indian language. [32]
1643 Georgian Francesco Maria Maggio [7]
1643 Old English Abraham Wheelocke A summary of the Old English grammar was included in Wheelocke's edition of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum [33]
1644 Mam Diego de Reynoso [18]
1644 Mochica Fernando de la Carrera [19]
1644 Latvian Johans Georgs Rēhehūzens [34]
1647 Bikol Andrés de San Agustin [35]
1649 Finnish Eskil Petraeus [7]
1651 Vietnamese Alexandre de Rhodes [36]
1651 Icelandic Runolf Jonsson [37]
1653 Lithuanian Daniel Klein [38]
1659 Kongo Giacinto Brusciotto [39]
1659 Breton Julien Maunoir [7]
1663 Waray Domingo Ezguerra [40]
1666 Massachusett John Eliot [27]
1667 Kalinago Raymond Breton [41]
1668 Danish Erik Pontoppidan [42]
1672 Tamil Philippus Baldaeus [43]
1677 Irish Froinsias Ó Maolmhuaidh [7]
1679 Upper Sorbian Xaver Jakub Ticin [44]
1680 Cumanagoto Francisco de Tauste [19]
1681 Frisian Simon Abbes GabbemaA grammar of Frisian was included in the Gabbema's edition of Gysbert Japiks's Friesche Rymlerye [45]
1683 Tarahumara Tomas de Guadalajara [18]
1686 Manchu Ferdinand Verbiest [46]
1689 Gothic George Hickes [47]
1690 Pangasinan Andrés Lopez [48]
1696 Swedish Nils Tiällmann [49]
1696 Russian Heinrich Wilhelm Ludolf [50]
1696 Chinese Martino Martini published by Melchisédech Thévenot in his Relations de divers voyages curieux [51]
1697 Kimbundu Pedro Dias [39]
1698 Amharic Hiob Ludolf written in collaboration with Abba Gorgoryos. [52]
1699 Kipeá Luigi Vincenzo MamianiMamiani published the only grammar of a non-Tupí language from colonial Brazil [53]
1702 Opata Natal Lombardo [18]
1707 Cornish Edward Lhuyd A grammar of cornish language was included in Lhuyd's Archæologia Britannica . [54]
1707 Sinhala Johannes Ruell [55]
1716 Albanian Francesco Maria da Lecce [7]
1729 Romansh Flaminio da Sale [56]
1729 Kapampangan Diego Bergaño [57]
1729 Mixe Agustín de Quintana [18]
1731 Otomi Francisco Haedo [18]
1732 Lule Antonio Maccioni [19]
1738 Sámi Pehr Fjellström [7]
1743 Hindi David Millsbased on manuscript written by Joan Josua Kettler. [58]
1743 Bengali Manuel da Assumpção [59]
1743 Tepehuan Benito Rinaldini [18]
1747 Huastec Carlos de Tapia Zenteno [18]
1750 Maltese Agius de Soldanis [7]
1752 Totonac José Zambrano Bonilla [18]
1753 Kaqchikel Ildefonso Joseph Flores [18]
1760 Greenlandic Paul Egede [60]
1769 Chuvash anonymous [61]
1770 Negerhollands Joachim Melchior Magens [62]
1775 Mari anonymous [61]
1775 Udmurt anonymous [61]
1778 Scottish Gaelic William Shaw [63]
1778 Marathi anonymous [64]
1779 Neapolitan Ferdinando Galiani [65]
1780 Romanian Samuil Micu-Klein [66]
1782 Sardinian Matteo Madao [65]
1783 Piedmontese Maurizio Pipino [65]
1787 Kurdish Maurizio Garzoni [67]
1790 Sanskrit Paulinus of St. Bartholomew based on manuscript written by Johann Ernst Hanxleden. [68]
1790 Slovak Anton Bernolák [69]
1794 Slavo-Serbian Avram Mrazović [70]
1799 Malayalam Robert Drummond [71]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andrew Linn, 'English Grammar Writing', in The Handbook of English Linguistics, ed. by Bas Aarts and April McMahon (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006), pp. 72–92.
  2. ↑ François & Ponsonnet (2013).
  3. ↑ Melinda J. Menzer, 'Ælfric's English Grammar', The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 103 (2004), 106-24.
  4. ↑ Ingelhart, Louis E. (1998). Press and Speech Freedoms in the World, from Antiquity until 1998: A Chronology. Greenwood. p. 12. ISBN   978-0-313-30851-2.
  5. ↑ Dondi, Cristina (2020). Printing R-evolution and Society 1450-1500: Fifty Years that Changed Europe. Edizioni Ca' Foscari - Digital Publishing. pp. 279–297. ISBN   978-88-6969-333-5.
  6. ↑ Waltke, Bruce K.; O'Connor, Michael Patrick (1990). An introduction to biblical Hebrew syntax. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns. p. 39. ISBN   0931464315.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Considine, John (22 December 2016). Small Dictionaries and Curiosity: Lexicography and Fieldwork in Post-Medieval Europe. Oxford University Press. pp. 243–265. ISBN   978-0-19-108793-6.
  8. ↑ Toomer, G. J. (1996). Eastern Wisedome and Learning: The Study of Arabic in Seventeenth-century England. Clarendon Press. p. 17. ISBN   978-0-19-820291-2.
  9. ↑ Gzella, Holger (2015). "A Cultural History of Aramaic: From the Beginnings to the Advent of Islam". A Cultural History of Aramaic. Brill. p. 5. ISBN   978-90-04-28510-1.
  10. ↑ Nadeau, Jean-Benoît; Barlow, Julie (8 January 2008). The Story of French. Macmillan + ORM. p. 73. ISBN   978-1-4299-3240-0.
  11. ↑ Stankiewicz 1984, p. 3.
  12. ↑ Mateus, Maria Helena; d'Andrade, Ernesto (8 June 2000). The Phonology of Portuguese. OUP Oxford. p. 3. ISBN   978-0-19-159050-4.
  13. ↑ Baddeley, Susan; Voeste, Anja (30 July 2012). Orthographies in Early Modern Europe. Walter de Gruyter. p. 338. ISBN   978-3-11-028817-9.
  14. ↑ Loop, Jan; Hamilton, Alastair; Burnett, Charles (13 February 2017). "The Teaching and Learning of Arabic in Early Modern Europe". The Teaching and Learning of Arabic in Early Modern Europe. Brill. p. 213. ISBN   978-90-04-33862-3.
  15. ↑ Raheb, Mitri; Lamport, Mark A. (2020). The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 290. ISBN   978-1-5381-2418-5.
  16. ↑ Degl’Innocenti, Luca; Richardson, Brian; Sbordoni, Chiara (2 March 2016). Interactions between Orality and Writing in Early Modern Italian Culture. Routledge. p. 29. ISBN   978-1-317-11476-5.
  17. ↑ Kelly, Samantha (2024). Translating faith: Ethiopian pilgrims in Renaissance Rome. Harvard University Press. p. 243. ISBN   9780674294172.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Fountain, Catherine (2024). "2 Missionary linguistics in Mesoamerica". In Wichmann, Søren (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Mexico and Northern Central America: A Comprehensive Guide. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 5–32. ISBN   978-3-11-042170-5.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Adelaar, Willem F. H. (27 January 2012). "Historical overview: Descriptive and comparative research on South American Indian languages". The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 1–58. ISBN   978-3-11-025803-5.
  20. ↑ Stankiewicz 1984, p. 35.
  21. ↑ Stankiewicz 1984, p. 98.
  22. ↑ Paxman, David B. (2 March 2017). Voyage into Language: Space and the Linguistic Encounter, 1500–1800. Routledge. p. 47. ISBN   978-1-351-87415-1.
  23. ↑ Stankiewicz 1984, p. 77.
  24. 1 2 3 Vibar, Arwin (2021). "Grammar Writing in the Philippines (1610-1904)". Moenia. 27. doi:10.15304/moenia.id6930.
  25. ↑ Zhiri, Oumelbanine Nina (5 September 2023). Beyond Orientalism: Ahmad ibn Qasim al-Hajari between Europe and North Africa. Univ of California Press. p. 152. ISBN   978-0-520-39046-1.
  26. ↑ Palabıyık, Nil Ö (2023). Silent teachers: Turkish books and oriental learning in early modern Europe, 1544-1669. Routledge. p. 205. ISBN   0367359782.
  27. 1 2 Mithun, Marianne (7 June 2001). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press. pp. 4–5. ISBN   978-0-521-29875-9.
  28. ↑ Considine, John P. (2017). Small Dictionaries and Curiosity: Lexicography and Fieldwork in Post-medieval Europe. Oxford University Press. p. 244. ISBN   978-0-19-878501-9.
  29. ↑ Hamilton, Alastair (2006). The Copts and the West, 1439-1822: The European Discovery of the Egyptian Church. OUP Oxford. p. 199-206. ISBN   978-0-19-928877-9.
  30. ↑ Trask, R. L. (13 September 2013). The History of Basque. Routledge. p. 51. ISBN   978-1-136-16756-0.
  31. ↑ Bruijn, J. T. P. (31 October 2008). General Introduction to Persian Literature: History of Persian Literature A, Vol I. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 282. ISBN   978-0-85773-650-5.
  32. ↑ Neill, Stephen (1984). A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707. Cambridge University Press. p. 241. ISBN   978-0-521-54885-4.
  33. ↑ Brackmann, Rebecca (2023). Old English Scholarship in the Seventeenth Century: Medievalism and National Crisis. Boydell & Brewer. p. 54. ISBN   978-1-84384-652-9.
  34. ↑ Baldi, Philip (1 June 2011). Linguistic Change and Reconstruction Methodology. Walter de Gruyter. p. 360. ISBN   978-3-11-088609-2.
  35. ↑ Lobel, J. W. (1 January 2006). "Bikol". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition). Elsevier. pp. 771–773. ISBN   978-0-08-044854-1.
  36. ↑ Zwartjes, Otto; Troia, Paolo De (2021). Missionary Linguistics VI: Missionary Linguistics in Asia. Selected papers from the Tenth International Conference on Missionary Linguistics, Rome, 21–24 March 2018. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 202. ISBN   978-90-272-5843-4.
  37. ↑ Koerner, E. F. K.; Asher, R. E. (28 June 2014). Concise History of the Language Sciences: From the Sumerians to the Cognitivists. Elsevier. p. 181. ISBN   978-1-4832-9754-5.
  38. ↑ Kamusella, T. (16 December 2008). The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe. Springer. p. 187. ISBN   978-0-230-58347-4.
  39. 1 2 Cole, Desmond T. (21 August 2017). "THE HISTORY OF AFRICAN LINGUISTICS TO 1945". Linguistics in Sub-Saharan Africa. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 1–29. ISBN   978-3-11-156252-0.
  40. ↑ Lobel, J. W. (1 January 2006). "Samar-Leyte". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition). Elsevier. pp. 734–736. ISBN   978-0-08-044854-1.
  41. ↑ Granberry, Julian; Vescelius, Gary (19 August 2004). Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles. University of Alabama Press. pp. 59–62. ISBN   978-0-8173-5123-6.
  42. ↑ Deumert, Ana; Vandenbussche, Wim (1 January 2003). Germanic Standardizations: Past to Present. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 80. ISBN   978-90-272-1856-8.
  43. ↑ Lach, Donald F. (1993). Asia in the Making of Europe: Vol. 3. A century of advance / Donald F. Lach and Edwin J. Van Kley. Trade, missions, literature. Book 1. University of Chicago Press. p. 495. ISBN   978-0-226-46753-5.
  44. ↑ Stankiewicz 1984, p. 61.
  45. ↑ Bremmer, Rolf H. (1 January 1992). "The First Grammar of Frisian (1681)". Diversions of Galway: Papers on the history of linguistics from ICHoLS V. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 59–72. ISBN   978-90-272-4555-7.
  46. ↑ Saarela, Marten Soderblom (2020). The Early Modern Travels of Manchu: A Script and Its Study in East Asia and Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 175. ISBN   978-0-8122-5207-1.
  47. ↑ Klein, Jared S.; Ratkus, Arturas (11 September 2024). Studies in Gothic. Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN   978-0-19-889670-8.
  48. ↑ Sueiro Justel, Joaqun (8 December 2005). "Análisis del Arte de la lengua Pangasinán (1690) de Fray Andrés López". Missionary Linguistics II / Lingüística misionera II: Orthography and Phonology.Selected papers from the Second International Conference on Missionary Linguistics, São Paulo, 10–13 March 2004. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 247–272. ISBN   978-90-272-4600-4.
  49. ↑ Bandle, Oskar; Elmevik, Lennart; Widmark, Gun (2002). The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1390. ISBN   978-3-11-017149-5.
  50. ↑ Stankiewicz 1984, p. 113.
  51. ↑ Knight, Sarah; Tilg, Stefan (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Neo-Latin. Oxford University Press. p. 567. ISBN   978-0-19-994818-5.
  52. ↑ Ben-Tov, Asaph; Loop, Jan; Mulsow, Martin, eds. (2023). Hiob Ludolf and Johann Michael Wansleben: Oriental Studies, Politics, and History between Gotha and Africa, 1650-1700. BRILL. p. 10. ISBN   978-90-04-54819-0.
  53. ↑ Brown, Keith; Ogilve, Sarah, eds. (6 April 2010). Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. Elsevier. p. 667. ISBN   978-0-08-087775-4.
  54. ↑ Koch, John T.; Minard, Antone (2012). The Celts: History, Life, and Culture [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 430. ISBN   979-8-216-05865-6.
  55. ↑ Wickremasuriya, Sarathchandra (1978). "The beginnings of the Sinhalese Printing Press". Senarat Paranavitana Commemoration Volume. Brill. pp. 283–300. ISBN   978-90-04-64647-6.
  56. ↑ Miodunka, Władysław (1987). Language and Nation: Material from a Symposium. Jagiellonian University. p. 41. ISBN   978-83-01-07840-9.
  57. ↑ Ridruejo, Emilio (31 August 2004). "La primitiva tradición gramatical sobre el pampango". Missionary Linguistics/Lingüística misionera: Selected papers from the First International Conference on Missionary Linguistics, Oslo, 13–16 March 2003. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 179–200. ISBN   978-90-272-4597-7.
  58. ↑ Zwartjes, Otto (2011). Portuguese Missionary Grammars in Asia, Africa and Brazil, 1550-1800. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 75. ISBN   978-90-272-4608-0.
  59. ↑ Zwartjes, Otto (2011). Portuguese Missionary Grammars in Asia, Africa and Brazil, 1550-1800. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 58. ISBN   978-90-272-8325-2.
  60. ↑ Nowak, Elke (1 January 1992). "The Case of Eighteenth Century Descriptions of Greenlandic: How to "Improve" a Language". Diversions of Galway: Papers on the history of linguistics from ICHoLS V. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 157–168. ISBN   978-90-272-4555-7.
  61. 1 2 3 Salmin, Anton Kirillovich (27 March 2020). "FIRST GRAMMARS OF THE LANGUAGES OF PEOPLES OF THE URAL AND VOLGA REGION". Yearbook of Finno-Ugric Studies. 14 (1): 124–130. doi:10.35634/2224-9443-2020-14-1-124-130.
  62. ↑ Bartens, Angela (26 June 2013). "Creole languages". Contact Languages: A Comprehensive Guide. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 65–158. ISBN   978-1-61451-371-1.
  63. ↑ Macdonald, Sharon (15 May 2020). Reimagining Culture: Histories, Identities and the Gaelic Renaissance. Routledge. p. 52. ISBN   978-1-000-18458-7.
  64. ↑ Offredi, Mariola (2000). The Banyan Tree: Essays in Early Literature in New Indo-Aryan Languages. Manohar. p. 324. ISBN   978-81-7304-277-5.
  65. 1 2 3 Sanson, Helena L. (2013). "The Romance languages in the Renaissance and after". The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages: Volume 2: Contexts. Cambridge University Press. pp. 237–282. ISBN   978-0-521-80073-0.
  66. ↑ Lebsanft, Franz; Tacke, Felix (2020). Manual of Standardization in the Romance Languages. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 276. ISBN   978-3-11-045606-6.
  67. ↑ Bajalan, Djene Rhys; Karimi, Sara Zandi (2017). Studies in Kurdish History: Empire, Ethnicity and Identity. Taylor & Francis. p. 34. ISBN   978-1-317-50216-6.
  68. ↑ Kochhar, Rajesh (2021). Sanskrit and the British Empire. Taylor & Francis. pp. 13–14. ISBN   978-1-000-43553-5.
  69. ↑ Stankiewicz 1984, p. 25.
  70. ↑ Stankiewicz 1984, p. 94.
  71. ↑ Andronov, Mikhail Sergeevich (1996). A Grammar of the Malayalam Language in Historical Treatment. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 18. ISBN   978-3-447-03811-9.
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