Research on English Grammar Theory

【Abstract】This paper mainly studies the theoretical knowledge of English grammar. This paper describes the concept， origin， development and exploration of English grammar. Many linguists and scholars have established their own grammar theories. Through these grammatical changes， we can see that the grammar theory reached a new height， and then continuously improved.

【Key words】English grammar； Theoretical knowledge； explore

【作者簡介】鐘曉菲，三江學(xué)院。

1. The concept of English grammar

English grammar is a series of language rules concluded systematically after studying English language. In a nutshell， grammar is the law of language. Every language has its laws. English grammar is the basic rule of English. If you want to learn English， you must learn English grammar. Therefore， English grammar is very important.

2. The origin of English grammar - ancient Greece

Plato in ancient Greece was credited with pioneering the study of grammar. In his dialogues， two influential views of the origin of linguistic signs emerged. The first idea is that linguistic signs originate in nature. The second point is that there is a rational relationship between names and things. There is no necessary relation between a language symbol and the thing or object represented. Language is formed by convention. It is obvious that this is a conflict between the origin of language and the relationship between words and their meanings. Later， many philosophers expressed their views on the origin of language. Aristotle thought that language was conditioned. The initial speech is imitation of things. These two views were reflected in the later development of linguistics.

3. The development of English grammar

3.1 Ancient Rome and medieval times

In ancient Rome， because the Greek and Latin structures were very similar， many Greek linguistic theories， arguments and classifications were applied to Latin. Varo is one of the most innovative Latin scholars. His great grammar work On Latin divides language studies into etymology， morphology and syntax. This is the first time that the derivative structure and the inflected structure are separated. After Varro， Puri Sheen classified the parts of speech in his grammatical category. However， this division eliminates the article and adds the interjection.

3.2 From the Renaissance to the 19th century

In this stage， many new linguistic ideas have emerged， such as rationalism and empiricism. Paul Royall is a famous representative of rationalism in France. He tried to find universal grammar principles that exist in all languages. He believes that the common thinking structure of mankind lies in the common language structure. Another important figure is Humboldt of Germany. He divides the world language into inflected， agglutinative and synthetic languages. Empiricism holds that human acquisition of language is a simple process of listening to and imitating the language of the surroundings from birth. This debate has been affecting the theoretical thinking of many disciplines.

4. Theoretical exploration of modern grammar

The history of modern linguistics begins with Swiss linguists. He regards language as a valuable structural system composed of the relations between symbols. He not only clarifies the scope of linguistic research， but also establishes the methodological basis of structural linguistics.

The representative of systemic functional linguistics is Hallidy， a British linguist. He believes that the most basic categories of grammar theory are units， structures， categories and systems. The relations between categories and actual linguistic materials， and between categories， are accomplished by steps， precision orders and illustrative orders.

5. Conclusion

From Traxs grammatical concepts to Chomskys Transformational-Generative grammar， we can see that grammar has undergone tremendous changes. Linguists hold different theoretical views on grammar at different times. Grammatical changes take place in all aspects. Phonemes， morphemes， words and grammatical rules may be borrowed， increased， lost or changed. The change of grammar， as the Greek philosopher Hera Grete J said， is all mobile. Nothing will remain static. The only thing that remains unchanged is change.

References：

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