1、Descriptive Linguistics and Prescriptive Linguistics 规定语言学和描述语言学,Definition History Prescriptive Grammar VS Descriptive Grammar Examples Websters Third New International Dictionary,Outline,Prescriptive linguistics规定语言学 - an account of how a language should be used instead of how it is actually used
2、. It is the act of taking the official models of a language, and treating them as sacred seikrid perfect representations of the language, and enforcing them on people. For example, correcting someone who uses the word “aint” (am not/are not), even if its used in an appropriately casual way.,Descript
3、ive linguistics描述语言学- the work of analyzing and describing how language is actually spoken now (or how it was actually spoken in the past), by any group of people.,history,1,Prescriptive linguistics school,2,Descriptive linguistics school,Prescriptive linguistics school 规定语言学派,The history of linguis
4、tics can trace back to the ancient Greece in 5th century BC. At that time, prescriptive linguistics mainly depended on the early Latin or Greek grammar. It treated the linguistic as a law to rule people how to use language. Until the 18th century, the prescriptive linguistics was still the main stre
5、am.,Descriptive linguistics school 描述语言学派,1911,1924,1933,1950,One person: Boas(鲍阿斯) One book: Handbook of American Indian language 美洲印第安语手册 The foreword to the book : The symbol of the start of the descriptive linguistics school,One organization: Linguistic Society of America 美国语言学学会 Two people: Boa
6、s（鲍阿斯 （1858-1942） Sapir(萨丕尔) （1884-1939）,One book: Language(语言论)One person: Bloomfield blu:mfi:ld 布龙菲尔德Influence: The symbol of the formal birth of the descriptive linguistics school,Descriptive linguistics school became mature,Prescriptive grammarDescriptive grammar,Prescriptive grammarians prefer
7、giving practical advice about using language: straightforward rules to help us avoid making errors. A prescriptive grammarian believes that certain forms used are correct and that others, even though they may be used by native speakers, are incorrect.,Prescriptive Grammar,Prescriptive grammarians la
8、y out r_ about what they_b_ to be the “_c_” or “_i_” use of language.,Key Point,ules,orrect,ncorrect,elieve,Descriptive grammarians generally advise us not to be overly concerned with matters of correctness: language, they say, isnt good or bad; it simply is. As the history of the glamorous word gra
9、mmar demonstrates, the English language is a living system of communication, a continually evolving affair. Within a generation or two, words and phrases come into fashion and fall out again. Over centuries, word endings and entire sentence structures can change or disappear.,Descriptive Grammar,Des
10、criptivists look at the way people speak and then try to create rules that account for the language usage, accepting alternative forms that are used regionally and also being open to forms used in speech that traditional grammars would describe as errors. Many prescriptivists feel that modern lingui
11、stics, is responsible for a decline in the standard of language.,Descriptive grammarians study the r_ or patterns that u_ our u_ of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.,Key Point,ules,nderlie,be or form the base for,Underlie:,se,Prescriptive grammar: the structure of a language as certain people
12、think it should be used. Descriptive grammar: the structure of a language as it is actually used by speakers and writers.,Contrast,Though certainly different in their approaches to language, both kinds of grammar-descriptive and prescriptive-are useful to students and very important in English studi
13、es.,Examples,1.This is the house I was born in2.Id like to know what you have been up to,One Rule,Never end a sentence with a preposition.,1.This is the house I was born inThis is the house in which I was born 2.Id like to know what you have been up toId like to know up to what you have been,A. It i
14、s I. B. It is me.A. Who did you speak to? B. Whom did you speak to?,Prescriptivists take correct and incorrect rules as the absolute standard.Prescriptive grammar is a subjective one-sided prescription.,Disadvantage,Websters Third New International Dictionary is called a descriptive dictionary, whic
15、h describes the way words actually are being used in conversations and writings. Philip Grove, the editor of the new dictionary, is a representative descriptivist. Although many people against this dictionary for its alleged permissiveness, its actually the undisputed best.,Websters Third New International Dictionary,Thank you.,
