Grammar 101

As spoken language was transcribed, set grammatical rules became a necessity. These rules were first developed in the eighth century B.C.E. with the Indian language Sanskrit. While this formalized system of grammar eventually spread into China, Japan, and a variety of regions in Southeast Asia, the grammatical system developed in ancient Greece and Rome went on to influence European languages such as Latin, French, and, eventually, English.

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As part of their well-known work in the field of philosophy, Plato (top) and his student Aristotle (bottom) extensively studied linguistics, which is the examination of how a language (including its grammatical workings) functions. These two scholars were instrumental in introducing a number of parts of speech to the Greek grammatical system. Plato wrote, “Sentences are, I conceive, a combination of verbs and nouns.” Aristotle later added conjunctions to the mix, which now includes eight different parts of speech.

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In Greece, academic Dionysius Thrax wrote Hē grammátiké tékhné (The Art of Grammar) in 100 B.C.E. and helped bring the formal study of grammar to the forefront of scholarship. Other grammarians from all different locations and backgrounds based their grammar texts on Thrax’s until the nineteenth century, when books began to focus more on grammar as a philosophy instead of just a memorization of facts.

In the Middle Ages, English was thought to be an inferior language compared to the eloquent and established French. Today, French is the second most studied language in the world, after English.

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After nine years of work, Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language was published and became one of the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. Most of the grammar and spelling rules we use today were standardized in Johnson’s dictionary.

The English dictionary grows by approximately 1,000 words per year, but before being added, a word is studied extensively. Dictionary employees search for words that are either new or being used in new ways. These words are researched for frequency of use, time span of use, the number of sources the words appear in, and more. If a word proves to be in wide use in the same form (adjective noun, adverb, etc.) for a significant period of time, it’s added to the dictionary.

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Noah Webster is most often associated with the modern dictionary that bears his name, but his contributions to furthering proper grammar and spelling go far beyond that. He has been called the “Father of American Scholarship and Education,” and the schoolbooks he created taught more than five generations of American children how to read and spell.

Grammarian Lindley Murray’s work English Grammar was so popular in the United States that it went through nearly fifty editions. His later abridgment of the book went through more than 120 editions. His work was so popular because it introduced a “system” to learning grammar that helped the common man speak and write the language correctly.

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Considered by many to be the biggest grammatical mistake of all time, this 1631 printing of the Bible contained the commandment “Thou shall commit adultery.” The book quickly became known as the Wicked Bible and was burned in the streets.

Grammatical marks like the colon and parenthesis are now commonly used to create emojis, which are images used to replace traditional language in texts and other forms of electronic communication. Studies have shown that the use of emojis and other language shortcuts has resulted in poor grammar test scores for children. It is not just sending these messages that is detrimental to the students’ grammar; receiving and reading these messages also leads to lower scores.

This statue of Edgar Allan Poe once contained a base that held the inscription: “Dreamng dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.” The missing “i” from the word “dreaming” and the misquote of “mortals” (which should be “mortal”) infuriated poet and Poe enthusiast Edmond Fontaine so much that he took a chisel to the base to remove it.

University College London is where linguistics scholar Sidney Greenbaum taught and researched while writing A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language and Oxford English Grammar. The former focuses on the difference between British English and American English. The latter focuses on international grammar and is one of the most complete English grammar titles to date.