Introduction to the Theory of Grammar Grammar as part of language. Grammar as a linguistic discipline

TOPIC I
Introduction to the Theory of Grammar
1. Grammar as part of language. Grammar as a linguistic discipline.
2. Parts of Grammar. Paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations of grammatical
units.

1. We should distinguish between language as an abstract system of signs (meaningful units) and .speech as the use of language in the process of communication. Language and speech are interconnected. Language functions in speech. Speech is the manifestation of language.

The system of language is constituted by 3 subsystems: phonetics, vocabulary, grammar. Grammar may be defined as a system of word changing and other means of expressing relations of words in_the_sentence. The 3 constituent parts of language are studied by the corresponding linguistic disciplines: phonology, lexicology, grammar.

Grammar as a linguistic discipline may be practical (descriptive, normative) or theoretical. Practical Grammar describes the grammatical system of a given language. Theoretical Grammar gives a scientific explanation of the nature and peculiarities of the grammatical system of the language.
Modern English, as distinct from Modern Russian, is a language of analytical structure. Relations of words in the sentence are expressed mainly by the positions of words or by special form-words. The main means of expressing syntactic relations in Russian (a language of synthetic structure) is the system of word changing.

2. Main units of Grammar are a word and a sentence. A word may be divided into morphemes, a sentence may be divided into phrases (word-groups). A morpheme, a word, a phrase and a sentence are units of different levels of language structure. A unit of a higher level consists of one or more units of a lower level.

Grammatical units enter into two types of relations: in the language system (paradigmatic relations) and in speech (syntagmatic relations).
In the language system each unit is included into a set of connections based on different properties. For example, word forms child, children, child's, children's have the same lexical meaning and have different grammatical meanings. They constitute a lexeme.
Word-forms children, boys, men, books... have the same grammatical meaning and have different lexical meanings. They constitute a grammeme (a categorial form, a form class).
The system of all grammemes (grammatical forms) of all lexemes (words) of a given class constitutes a paradigm.
Syntagmatic relations are the relations in an utterance:
I like children.
Main grammatical units, a word and a sentence, are studied by different sections of Grammar: Morphology (Accidence) and Syntax. Morphology studies the structure, forms and the classification of words. Syntax studies the structure, forms and the classification of sentences. In other words, Morphology studies paradigmatic relations of words, Syntax studies syntagmatic relations of words and paradigmatic relations of sentences.
There is also a new approach to the division of Grammar into Morphology and Syntax. According to this approach Morphology should study both paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations of words. Syntax should study both paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations of sentences.
Syntactic syntagmatics is a relatively new field of study, reflecting the functional approach to language, i.e. the description of connected speech, or discourse.

TOPIC II
Main Notions of Grammar