GRAMMAR

UNIT 1: Parts of the Speech Definition of Parts of Speech

A term in traditional grammar for the categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences: Nouns Pronouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Prepositions Conjunctions Interjections Articles In contemporary linguistics, the term part of speechhas generally been discarded in favor of the labelword class or syntactic category.

Definition of Grammar
a. The study of how words and their component parts combine to form sentences. b. The study of structural relationships in language or in a language, sometimes including pronunciation, meaning, and linguistic history.

set of words that display the same formal properties, especially their inflections and distribution. Similar to the more traditional term part of speech.

The two major families of word classes are (1) lexical (or open) classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and (2) function (or closed) classes (determiners, particles, prepositions, and others).

Closed Class Words

Definition: The category of function words--that is, parts of speech (or word classes) that do not readily accept new members. Contrast withopen class. The closed classes in English include determiners, conjunctions, andprepositions.

Examples and Observations:

"[C]losed-class words are those belonging to the grammatical, or function, classes . . .. Function words in English include conjunctions (and, or), articles (the, a), demonstratives (this, that), and prepositions (to, from, at, with). To take one specific case, consider the word and. The essential feature of the word andis that it functions grammatically to conjoin words and phrases, as seen in the combination of noun phrases the woman and the man. Any change in membership in such a class happens only very slowly (over centuries) and in small increments. Thus, a speaker of English may well encounter dozens of new nouns and verbs during the coming year; but it is extremely unlikely that the English language will acquire a new article (or lose a current one) in the coming year (or even in the speaker's lifetime)."

"Closed-class words or 'function words' are limited in number and act as markers or guides to the structure of a sentence. The role of articles is to signal nouns. Prepositions mark special relationships between persons, objects, and locations. Conjunctions are connectors that link actors or objects, and specify relationships between clauses in the sentence. Openand closed-class words occupy certain slots in sentences and set up a frame for interpreting the interrelationships between actors, actions, and objects."

"Prepositions have gradually expanded their membership somewhat by admitting participles such as including, concerning, but the remaining classes are very resistant to the introduction of new items. This has been noticeable in recent years when attempts have been made to find gender-neutral pronouns."