6
votes
How does the description of the grammar of a language differ between a traditional and scientific approach?
This is of course difficult to prove, but I would say traditional grammars tend to be prescriptive, i. e. they are conceived as a list of rules to be followed in order to speak the language correctly, ...
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5
votes
Accepted
Is Generative / X-bar Theory prescriptivist? (can the descriptivist linguist create X-bar syntax trees?)
X-bar theory is prescriptivist in a certain sense. It prescribes certain things about the structure of syntax trees: that all branching is binary, for example, and that every XP level dominates an X' ...
- 63.8k
4
votes
How does the description of the grammar of a language differ between a traditional and scientific approach?
Traditional grammars were developed mainly for heavily inflecting languages (Sanskrit, Classical Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Classical Arabic). Such kind of grammars turn out to be inadequate for languages ...
- 29.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Cultural bias in early modern Western linguistics
The account that comes to mind that is most à l'époque (early modern Western linguistics being around the time of the Enlightenment and European colonialism, as a rule of thumb, in the 18th century) ...
- 7,253
2
votes
Is meaning prescribed?
Existing words already have meaning. The relationship between the word (form) and the meaning is conventional, and in learning a language (as a child or second language learner), you learn that ...
- 81.9k
2
votes
How does the description of the grammar of a language differ between a traditional and scientific approach?
As indicated by pablodf76, "scientific" approach to grammar is strictly descriptive. Also it tends to be really... scientific, i.e. it may be highly formal, sometimes going as far as resembling ...
- 2,363
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