A series of Blogs will be posted on English Grammar.
Wren & Martin is the Reference .
I have tried to explain things in a simple Language to suit all.
Examples and Exercises are given from Indian background to make one familiar with Indian Culture and history.
Comments and corrections are welcome.
All of us think we want others to know what we think or feel.
Similarly, we would like to know what others think or feel. This is possible only when what the say to each other has a common meaning for all of us. That is to say, if somebody says ‘tree’ both of us should have the same idea or vision of tree, only then, we can understand each other.
Man over a period of hundreds of years found out a method.
All of us make noises / sound.
Suppose, we can ascribe or give meaning to sounds and make it common or Universal to all of us, we can know/understand
each other better.
This is how languages were born.
Different sounds can be made. Sounds can be made / Generated from mouth, throat and stomach. These sounds are grouped into different categories. The combinations of these sounds make a word. They give complete meaning
Even prior to formulation of words, we have to identify each sound. Sounds are classified as Consonants and Vowels. The Science of sound relating to language is called Phonetics. In this, we come to know how to pronounce each letter; thereafter each word and then sentence. By knowing Phonetics, we can talk to each other/converse with each other when we are together.
Suppose, we want to say something to somebody, who is not before us, what we speak cannot be heard by them.
So, we have given each sound a shape. Different sounds have different shapes. Each sound and each shape has been given a common meaning. These shapes have been given the name ‘ALPHABETS’. ALPHABETS are the fundamental units of a written language. In the West, Greek letters started from ALPHA, BETA ….OMEGA.
It is customary to call the letters of a Language ,the fundamental unit of written language, to call ALPHABETS.
All sounds may not be written. Those that have only sound and no separate figures to identify sounds (these are called scripts) are called Dialects. That is, Language minus script is DIALECT. They have sounds. They have no separate scripts.
Konkani is a Dialect.
Then how do they write?
Those in Karnataka write the sounds in Kannada and those in Goa or Maharashtra write in Marathi.
Script and Sound make up a Language. That is, those that have both phonetics and scripts of their own, are called languages.
Sounds plus figures representing sounds (ALPHABETS), make a language. (ENGLISH, TAMIL, TELUGU, HINDI, SPANISH, FRENCH etc.) The science that deals with language in all its aspects including script is called ‘Linguistics’.
We have seen we can make sounds and we have given each sound an Alphabet, each alphabet representing a different sound, a, b, z etc. Now, we have to combine the sounds, that is the alphabets, to convey meaning.
We have therefore, combined the different sounds / alphabets to give us a particular meaning known by us all. This is how words are formed.
WORD is a group of letters (Alphabets) that give us meaning. (Tree, Sun, Table, Father).
Group of letters that does not give us meaning is called (NON SENSE (makes no meaning to senses). Eg: az, cl, dfg, gko etc.
Therefore,
a) The Science that deals with the sound in relation to language is called
“PHONETICS’.
b) The figurative representation of Phonetics or sound is scripts
(‘A’, ‘B’’).
c) Those that have both sounds and scripts of their own, are called languages.
d) Those that have only sound and no separate script on their own, are called DIALECTS.
e) A group of letters or alphabets that gives meaning is called a word.
Language is a means of letting others know what we feel or think.
It helps us to communicate.
Language is a means of communication.
There are many languages and Dialects in the World.
The languages in the world are grouped into various categories. based on their origin, commonality and ethnicity (i.e. belonging to a particular race). The following are the major groups of languages:
a) Dravidian (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam).
b) Aryan (Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, English, French, Spanish, Persian, Russian)
c) Indo Aryan ( Hindi, Urdu, Arabic etc.)
d) Others (Chinese, Japanese)
ENGLISH belongs to Aryan group of languages.
England up to sixth century AD from third century BC was ruled by the Romans.
Prior to 3 century AD, they were speaking a language. It was only a Dialect. That was a mixture of a local (Anglo) dialect and Saxon and the dialect of invading Vikings. Then, the language that we know today as ENGLISH was born. When compared to other languages like Sanskrit, Tamil and Chinese which are approximately over 5000 years old, English is relatively young. English is known as the language of Commerce, French, language of Philosophy and Latin as language of Religion.
English has a vast treasure of literature, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Shelly, Keats, Byron, Wordsworth, Milton among poets and drama tests, Locke, Berkeley and Hume among Philosophers, Bacon, Macaulay, John Stuart Mill among essayists, Dickens, Walter Scott, R L Stevens are among story writers. English has become popular because it is flexible. It absorbs words from other languages. For instance, Palanquin is from Tamil, Coolie from Hindi. Many words in English are of Latin, Greek and French origin.
As English is accepted as a common language throughout the world, it is essential that we master the language, both in spoken and written forms. How do we command the language? By understanding phone tics, we can do well in pronunciation, by understanding grammar, we can speak correctly and will convey our thoughts clearly.
We have already seen that words have been given a common meaning to enable us to understand clearly without any confusion. How do we form a sentence? How do we form the words to give complete meaning so that those who hear or read do not mistake for what we have spoken or written. For ex. DELHI CHENNAI NORTH. Now a man who does not know the exact location of Delhi and Madras will get confused.
Is Delhi North of Chennai? or Chennai North of Delhi? But, when we say or write, Delhi is North of Chennai, we understand clearly, How?
In the above sentence, apart from the three words we have seen earlier, we have two words in addition, they are ‘is’ and ‘or’.
Because of these two words we have added we are able to understand the meaning clearly. Not only that, note carefully and observe how each of the words DELHI, NORTH and Chennai are placed. DELHI comes first followed by ‘is’ and then NORTH OF CHENNAI. If any of these words are interchanged (changing place), the meaning will not be clear.
Therefore, we have formed a set of common rules for everybody to follow while speaking or writing a language. This is to make communication clear and unambiguous (without doubt).
These rules are explained in Grammar. Grammar is that portion of the language, that sets down the rules to be followed by everyone while speaking or writing a language.
The purpose of grammar is to make communication clear and ensure that there is no confusion while understanding the language. ENGLISH GRAMMAR contrary to what,many think, is very easy when you compare it with Sanskrit, Tamil, French or Latin.
English Grammar is broadly divided into two parts.
(1) Those that deal with words and (2) Those that deal with sentences
Under (1) will be subject, Predicate and parts of speech, under (2) shall be analysing sentences, simple, compound, complex, phrases, and clauses. Transformation of sentences, synthesis of sentences,sequence of tenses, Direct and Indirect speech. Later, we shall see Structures, Paragraph writing, Précis writing, Letter writing, Story writing, Poems writing, Idioms etc.