Grammar checker: We explain what grammar is, its parts, levels of analysis and what types exist. Also, the relationship between grammar and spelling.
What is grammar?
Grammar is the set of language rules that regulate the use of a given language, as well as the composition and syntactic organization of sentences. Grammar is also called the science that is dedicated to the general study of these elements. The term comes from the Greek grammatiké or “art of letters.”
Generally, the term grammar is applied only to the syntactic and morphological aspects of the language, but it is common for it to also involve lexical, semantic and even phonetic-phonological elements. Each language has its own grammar, which in turn has its own logic, that is, its own way of organizing linguistic signs and, therefore, of organizing reality. You must read about Gastronomy once.
Grammar as a field of study was the concern of philosophers of classical antiquity such as Socrates and Aristotle, although the first treatise on Greek grammar as such was the work of Crates de Malos in the 2nd century BC.
Then, during the Middle Ages, the prevailing model of grammatical study was that of Aelius Donatus’ Ars grammatica, from the 4th century. It was replaced in 1492 by the first Castilian Grammar, the work of Antonio Nebrija, once Latin had given way to its descendant languages, such as Spanish, French, Italian, Catalan, Galician and Portuguese, among others.
Grammar and spelling
We are not talking about the same thing when we talk about grammar and spelling, even though they are often taught together, especially in school. But if by grammar we mean the formal logic of each language, spelling is the correct way of writing words and accompanying them with punctuation marks, that is, the normative part of the language.
A good grasp of grammar allows us to handle the rules of the language and to be able to express ourselves with greater ease, beauty or complexity. On the other hand, spelling allows us to adequately express our thoughts in writing. However, only the command of both things allows for a fully correct expression, free of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Maybe you should definitely read about Feudal Lord once.
Types of grammar
The main approaches to the study of grammar are the following:
Prescriptive or normative grammar:
As its name indicates, it starts from an ideal and a sense of what is correct in the language, to suggest to its speakers the appropriate or recommended way of formulating and organizing their sentences.
Descriptive grammar:
Unlike the previous one, it does not judge as “correct” or “incorrect” the way in which different speakers use the language, but rather it aims to understand how the actual use of the norms of the language is within a community or certain communities.
Traditional grammar:
This is the historical set of documents and ideas inherited from previous civilizations around what grammar is.
Functional grammar:
It aims to be a general grammar of natural language, that is, a set of basic rules applicable to different languages with different grammars.
Formal grammars:
These are abstract grammars that can apply their logic to non-verbal languages, such as computer programming languages.
Parts of grammar
Grammar comprises four clearly differentiated branches or parts, which deal with different aspects of language. These are:
Phonetics:
Deals with the ordering of the sounds that make up words, as well as their changes in realization depending on their specific position or grammatical context.
Morphology:
Deals with the way words are constructed, that is, the way in which we join their roots or main fragments, endowed with lexical meaning, with other fragments that modulate, change or determine the final meaning of what is said.
Syntax:
Deals with the internal organization of the sentence, according to a sequential logic established in the grammatical laws and in the logic of the language.
Semantics:
The one that deals with the meaning of words and their role within the set of dynamics and patterns that make up a language.
Levels of grammar
Just as there are branches or parts of grammar, these determine the levels of grammatical analysis, that is, which of these branches we pay attention to when observing or studying the language. For example:
Syntactic-morphological level:
From the combination of morphology and syntax comes morphosyntax, which is the approach to verbal language from a formal-functional point of view, that is, the way in which words are constructed and organized to form a spoken chain endowed with a logical meaning.
Lexical-semantic level:
At this level we only care about the meaning and its correlation with words, or what is the same, the way in which a word can refer to different meanings or vice versa.
Phonetic-phonological level:
At this level we will deal with the sounds that make up the language, that is, the sounds and signs that we use to represent them.
Pragmatic level:
At this level we deal with the language in its communicative context, taking into account elements and uses that are not canonical, that is, they are not contemplated in the grammatical “rules” of the language, but which serve as support when expressing its contents.
