Definition:
An objective, nonjudgmental description of the grammatical constructions in a language. See also:
Observations:
- "All languages adhere to syntactical rules of one sort or another, but the rigidity of these rules is greater in some languages. It is very important to distinguish between the syntactical rules that govern a language and the rules that a culture imposes on its language. This is the distinction between descriptive grammar and prescriptive grammar. Descriptive grammars are essentially scientific theories that attempt to explain how language works. The goal of the descriptivist is to simply state how language actually works. People spoke long before there were linguists around to uncover the rules of speaking. The intent of descriptive grammar is to posit explanations for the facts of language use, and there is no assumption of correctness or appropriateness. Prescriptive grammars, on the other hand, are the stuff of high school English teachers. They 'prescribe,' like medicine for what ails you, how you 'ought' to speak."
(Donald G. Ellis, From Language to Communication, Lawrence Erlbaum, 1999) - "The term 'descriptive' is misleading, because it can be taken to imply a taxonomic, merely labeling, non-explanatory approach, and generative grammar in its inception accused descriptive grammar of being just that and hence we needed generative grammar. However descriptive grammar is not merely descriptive, it provides analyses, theories, and explanations."
(Christopher Beedham, Language and Meaning: The Structural Creation of Reality, John Benjamins, 2005)
