Definition:
The collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of language that is commonly taught in schools. Traditional English grammar is largely based on Latin grammar, not on current linguistic research. See also: current-traditional rhetoric.
Observations:
- "We say that traditional grammar is prescriptive because it focuses on the distinction between what some people do with language and what they ought to do with it, according to a pre-established standard. . . . The chief goal of traditional grammar, therefore, is perpetuating a historical model of what supposedly constitutes proper language."
(James D. Williams, The Teacher's Grammar Book. Routledge, 2005) - "[G]rammarians of the 2000s are the inheritors of the distortions and limitations imposed on English by two centuries of a Latinate perspective."
(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2003) - "Why do the media cling to traditional grammar and its sometimes outdated rules? Mainly because they like the prescriptive approach of traditional grammar rather than the descriptive approach of structural and transformational grammar. . . .
"Why? Inconsistencies in the style of a newspaper, online news site, magazine or book draw attention to themselves when readers should instead be concentrating on the content. . . .
"Besides, consistencies save time and money. . . . If we agree on conventions, we can avoid wasting each other's time . . ..
"But the prescriptive rules have to be amended occasionally to reflect not only changes in the language but also research that proves traditional advice may have been inaccurate. The work of linguists is essential for making such calls on the best evidence available."
(Brian Brooks, James Pinson, and Jean Gaddy Wilson, Working with Words. Macmillan, 2005)
Also Known As: school grammar
