The question of “what is a word” is not a matter of making appearances in prestigious dictionaries (which, by the way, ain’t has two, albeit small entries in the Oxford English Dictionary) but rather a matter of use. If even one English speaker says or writes ain’t, then ain’t is a word. And, thousands upon […] More
When the Royal Society unsuccessfully attempted to establish a formal language academy in England in 1664, lexicographers and grammarians from the London area alternately formed a Grammarian Class with the aims to refine, fix, and ascertain the English language (Smith “Scientific”). From the language prescriptions and proscriptions imposed by the wealthy white English male hegemony […] More
“Prepositions are not words to end sentences with” reads the joke commenting on a prescriptive grammar rule for prepositions. According to scholar G.O. Curme in his Parts of Speech and Accidence published in 1935, the traditional definition of a preposition is “a word that indicates a relation between the noun or pronoun it governs and […] More
Witches and wizards found in fantasy literature reveal themselves as magical not only through their actions and outward appearances but also through their speech. In The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Gandalf adorns his head with a pointy gray hat and carries a wooden staff. The witches in Whispering to Witches by Anna Dale dress in […] More
The English language changed dramatically with the introduction of the printing press into England in 1476 because of the development of a written form made possible by wide-spread printing (Smith “Early”). Not until roughly five hundred years later at the end of the twentieth century with the advent of the computer and the Internet would […] More
During the eighth and ninth centuries, Vikings from Scandinavia from the North attacked the Germanic tribes living in England (Smith “External”). Around the same time period, Danish Vikings assailed and conquered the northern area of France, which became the dukedom of Normandy (Baugh and Cable 92). Only two hundred and fifty years later in September […] More
The English language has borrowed extensively from the Greek language beginning during the Germanic period when many words borrowed from Latin were originally borrowed into Latin from Greek. English continued to borrow from Greek through Latin during the Old English period. However, most of the Greek loanwords in English were borrowed during the Early Modern […] More
The English language has borrowed extensively from the Latin language beginning during the Germanic period before English was English through the Old English period and up to the early Modern English period. The earliest Latin loanwords date from the period before the Germanic tribes invaded England under invite from the Britons. Latin borrowings continued throughout […] More
When William Caxton introduced the printing press to England in 1476, English developed into a physical entity (Smith “Early”). Language no longer disappeared as the sound waves of speech diminished but rather became a social institution that could be held, used, wielded, and owned (Smith “Early”). Although an interest in classical learning existed in England […] More
Learn about the two types of affixes that create new words and that create new forms of the same word in the English language as well as bases and connecting vowels. More
Subordinators in English grammar are words that introduce subordinate or dependent clauses. The three dependent clauses in English are noun clauses, adjective clauses, and adverb clauses. Subordinating conjunctions including relative pronouns perform the grammatical function of subordinator. Noun Clauses Subordinating conjunctions that introduce noun clauses are also referred to as noun clause markers. Some of […] More
Correlators in English grammar are function words that are the first word or words in pairs of conjunctions that also join or link two or more words, phrases, and clauses. Function words perform definite grammatical functions but lack definite lexical meaning. Only one grammatical form can perform the function of correlator in English. The one […] More
Coordinators in English grammar are function words that join or link two or more words, phrases, and clauses. Function words perform definite grammatical functions but lack definite lexical meaning. Only one grammatical form can perform the function of coordinator in English. The one grammatical form that can function as the coordinator is the coordinating conjunction. […] More
American English has sixteen vowel sounds—ten monophthongs and six diphthongs—but only six vowel letters. A monophthong is a single vowel sound. A diphthong is a vowel that glides between two other vowel sounds. English Monophthongs [i] high front unrounded {beat} [ɪ] near-high near-front unrounded {bit} [e] high-mid front unrounded* [ɛ] low-mid front unrounded {bet} [æ] […] More
In traditional treatments of grammar, nouns are defined as words that denote a person, place, thing, or idea. A noun phrase is a phrase that consists of a noun functioning as the head of the phrase plus any modifiers, complements, or determiners. A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun or noun […] More
Most native English speakers can recall (with some trepidation) the days of fill-in-the-blank grammar exercises. Consider with me the following sentences: A good student always turns ___ homework in on time. One should always wash ___ hands before eating. Apparently someone called for you; ___ asked you to call ___ back. According to the prescriptive […] More
To split the infinitive or to not split the infinitive, that is the question. Prescriptive grammars forbid the splitting of infinitives. Most English speaking students have been told by the grade school or high school grammar teacher to never split an infinitive. Even in college, I have had professors chastise me for splitting my infinitives. […] More
“Do not end sentences with prepositions” is a common prescriptive grammar rule that grammar teachers drill into children. The rule is based on a Latin grammar model and is, therefore, not applicable to English grammar. More
Nouns are traditionally defined as words that refer to a person, place, thing, or idea. A noun phrase is a phrase that consists of a noun plus any modifiers, complements, or determiners. A subcategory of nouns, pronouns are words that take the place of nouns and noun phrases. In grammar, an indirect object is word, […] More
Nouns have traditionally been defined as words for people, places, things, and ideas. A noun phrase consists of a noun plus any modifiers, complements, and determiners that provide more information about the noun. Pronouns, which are a subcategory of nouns, are words that take the place of nouns and noun phrases. In grammar, a direct […] More
