第2个回答 2014-01-10
语法是语言学的一个分支,研究按确定用法来运用的词类、词的屈折变化或表示相互关系的其他手段以及词在句中的功能和关系
语言的结构规律。包括词法和句法。词法指词的构成及变化规律；句法指短语和句子的组织规律。
语法是语言表达的规则。各种语言都有不同的语法，包括人类语言和计算机语言等。语法学是语言学的一部分。
现代语法学包括语音学、音系学（见音韵学）、形态学（词法）、句法学、语义学。
数据通信中的意思
语法：数据及控制信息的格式、编码及信号电平等。
rules of a language governing the sounds, words, sentences, and other elements, as well as their combination and interpretation. The word grammar also denotes the study of these abstract features or a book presenting these rules. In a restricted sense, the term refers only to the study of sentence and word structure (syntax and morphology), excluding vocabulary and pronunciation.
A common contemporary definition of grammar is the underlying structure of a language that any native speaker of that language knows intuitively. The systematic description of the features of a language is also a grammar. These features are the phonology (sound), morphology (system of word formation), syntax (patterns of word arrangement), and semantics (meaning). Depending on the grammarian's approach, a grammar can be prescriptive (i.e., provide rules for correct usage), descriptive (i.e., describe how a language is actually used), or generative (i.e., provide instructions for the production of an infinite number of sentences in a language). The traditional focus of inquiry has been on morphology and syntax, and for some contemporary linguists (and many traditional grammarians) this is the only proper domain of the subject.
In Europe the Greeks were the first to write grammars. To them, grammar was a tool that could be used in the study of Greek literature; hence their focus on the literary language. The Alexandrians of the 1st century BC further developed Greek grammar in order to preserve the purity of the language. Dionysus Thrax of Alexandria later wrote an influential treatise called The Art of Grammar, in which he analyzed literary texts in terms of letters, syllables, and eight parts of speech.
The Romans adopted the grammatical system of the Greeks and applied it to Latin. Except for Varro, of the 1st century BC, who believed that grammarians should discover structures, not dictate them, most Latin grammarians did not attempt to alter the Greek system and also sought to protect their language from decay. Whereas the model for the Greeks and Alexandrians was the language of Homer, the works of Cicero and Virgil set the Latin standard. The works of Donatus (4th century AD) and Priscian (6th century AD), the most important Latin grammarians, were widely used to teach Latin grammar during the European Middle Ages. In medieval Europe, education was conducted in Latin, and Latin grammar became the foundation of the liberal arts curriculum. Many grammars were composed for students during this time. Aelfric, the abbot of Eynsham (11th century), who wrote the first Latin grammar in Anglo-Saxon, proposed that this work serve as an introduction to English grammar as well. Thus began the tradition of analyzing English grammar according to a Latin model.
The modistae, grammarians of the mid-13th to mid-14th century who viewed language as a reflection of reality, looked to philosophy for explanations of grammatical rules. The modistae sought one “universal” grammar that would serve as a means of understanding the nature of being. In 17th-century France a group of grammarians from Port-Royal were also interested in the idea of universal grammar. They claimed that common elements of thought could be discerned in grammatical categories of all languages. Unlike their Greek and Latin counterparts, the Port-Royal grammarians did not study literary language but claimed instead that usage should be dictated by the actual speech of living languages. Noting their emphasis on linguistic universals, the contemporary linguist Noam Chomsky called the Port-Royal group the first transformational grammarians.
Structural description of the sentence “The man will hit the ball,” assigned by the …
By 1700 grammars of 61 vernacular languages had been printed. These were written primarily for purposes of reforming, purifying, or standardizing language and were put to pedagogical use. Rules of grammar usually accounted for formal, written, literary language only and did not apply to all the varieties of actual, spoken language. This prescriptive approach long dominated the schools, where the study of grammar came to be associated with “parsing” and sentence diagramming. Opposition to teaching solely in terms of prescriptive and proscriptive (i.e., what must not be done) rules grew during the middle decades of the 20th century.
The simplification of grammar for classroom use contrasted sharply with the complex studies that scholars of linguistics were conducting about languages. During the 19th and early 20th centuries the historical point of view flourished. Scholars who realized that every living language was in a constant state of flux studied all types of written records of modern European languages to determine the courses of their evolution. They did not limit their inquiry to literary languages but included dialects and contemporary spoken languages as well. Historical grammarians did not follow earlier prescriptive approaches but were interested, instead, in discovering where the language under study came from.
As a result of the work of historical grammarians, scholars came to see that the study of language can be either diachronic (its development through time) or synchronic (its state at a particular time). The Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure and other descriptive linguists began studying the spoken language. They collected a large sample of sentences produced by native speakers of a language and classified their material starting with phonology and working their way to syntax.
Generative, or transformational, grammarians of the second half of the 20th century, such as Noam Chomsky, studied the knowledge that native speakers possess which enables them to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences. Whereas descriptivists like Saussure examined samples of individual speech to arrive at a description of a language, transformationalists first studied the underlying structure of a language. They attempted to describe the “rules” that define a native speaker's “competence” (unconscious knowledge of the language) and account for all instances of the speaker's “performance” (strategies the individual uses in actual sentence production). See generative grammar; transformational grammar.
The study of grammatical theory has been of interest to philosophers, anthropologists, psychologists, and literary critics over the centuries. Today, grammar exists as a field within linguistics but still retains a relationship with these other disciplines. For many people, grammar still refers to the body of rules one must know in order to speak or write “correctly.” However, from the last quarter of the 20th century a more sophisticated awareness of grammatical issues has taken root, especially in schools. In some countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, new English curricula have been devised in which grammar is a focus of investigation, avoiding the prescriptivism of former times and using techniques that promote a lively and thoughtful spirit of inquiry.
语法在大英百科全书的定义：统摄声音,文字，句子和其他要素，以及它们的组合和解释的语言规范。“语法”这个词也指对这些抽象特征的研究，或这些规则的指南手册。严格意义上说，“语法”这个术语是指对于句子和词语结构（句法和形态学）的研究，但不包括词汇和发音。
一个普遍接受的当代语法定义是：以一种语言为母语的任何人靠直觉就知道的语言结构。对语言特征的系统描述也是一种语法，而这些特征包括音位学（声音） ，形态学（系统构词） ，句法（词语安排模式）和语义（意思） 。根据语法学家的研究，语法可以规范（即提供一些正确用法的规则） ，描述（即，描述了语言实际上是如何使用的） ，或生成（即提供一种指导，使无限的句子在一种语言中产生） 。传统的调查重点，在于形态学和句法，对于一些当代语言学家（和许多传统的语法学家），这是唯一正确的研究领域。
在欧洲，希腊人最早写关于语法的著作。对他们来说，语法是一个工具，可以用来研究希腊文学，因此他们的重点是文学语言。公元前一世纪的Alexandrians进一步发展希腊语法，以保持纯净的语言。亚历山大的狄俄尼索斯后来写出一篇影响深远的论文，称为《语法的艺术》，他在其中分析文学文本中的字母，音节，和八段话语。
古罗马人接受了希腊人的语法体系，并运用于拉丁语。除了公元前一世纪的瓦罗Varro认为语法学家应该发现结构，而不是强行指定结构，大多数拉丁语法学家没有试图改变希腊系统，还设法保护他们的语言避免衰败。希腊人和亚历山大人的语言模型是荷马的语言，西塞罗和维吉尔的作品设定了拉丁语的语法标准。最重要的拉丁语语法学家多纳图斯（公元4世纪）和普里西安（公元6世纪）的作品在欧洲中世纪被广泛用于拉丁文语法教学。中世纪的欧洲的教育使用的是拉丁文，拉丁语语法成为人文教育的基础课程。 恩斯罕的修道院长，阿尔弗里克Aelfric（ 11世纪） ，第一个写拉丁语语法的盎格鲁撒克逊人，建议以此引入英语语法。从此，开始了依据拉丁语法的英语语法分析的传统。
第13世纪中叶至14世纪中叶的语法学家认为语言是现实的反映，从哲学中寻求解释语法的规则。他们寻求一个“普遍”的语法universal grammar，以此作为了解存在being的手段。在十七世纪的法国，来自罗亚尔港的一些语法学家也对这种普遍语法感兴趣。他们声称，思想的共同要素可以在所有语言的语法类别中辨识出来。与希腊语和拉丁语的语法学家不同，罗亚尔港语法学家没有研究文学语言，他们认为语言的用法应当取决于实际的生活语言。当代语言学家乔姆斯基也注意到对语言的共性的强调，他称罗亚尔港派为第一批转型语法学家。
到1700年，61种方言语法书已经印制。这些书的目的主要是改革，净化，或规范语言，并用于教学。当时语法规则通常仅仅用于正式，书面，文学的语言，并不适用于纷繁复杂的实际口语。这一规范性的手段长期在学校占主导地位，学生们对语法的学习往往和“解析”以及句子图解联系在一起。在20世纪的中后期，对于这种仅仅关注规范性和禁止性（即，什么不能做）规则的语法教育，出现了越来越多的反对声音。
课堂语法的简化和语言学家的复杂研究形成了鲜明对比。19世纪到20世纪初，历史主义观点蓬勃发展。认识到每一种现存的语言都是在不断变化中的学者们研究了欧洲语言所有类型的书面记录，以确定其演变路径。他们没有局限于文学语言，还研究了方言和当代口头语。历史主义的语法学家没有采用先前的规范性办法，但更加关注他们研究的语言的来源。
由于历史主义语法学家的工作，学者们看到，语言的研究可以是历时性的（其贯穿历史的发展）或同步性的（在特定的时间段的状态）。瑞士语言学家索绪尔和其他描述性语言学家开始研究口头语。他们收集了大量操母语者的语句样本，对这些材料进行分类，从音位学入手，一直研究到句法。
20世纪后半叶的转换生成语法学家，如乔姆斯基，研究了操母语者能生成和理解无限句子所需要的知识。而像索绪尔那样的描述语言学家则去审查单个话语样本，以求达到描述一种语言的目的。转换生成语法学家首先研究了语言的潜在结构。他们试图描述一种能够定义操母语者语言“能力”（底层的语言知识）的“规则”，解释说话人的种种“表现”（语言生成时的实际策略）。
在过去的千百年里，语法理论引起了哲学家，人类学家，心理学家和文学批评家的兴趣。今天，语法存在于语言学领域之内，但仍保留了与其他许多学科的联系。对于很多人来说，语法仍然指的是一整套必须知道，以保证“正确”语言输出的规则，然而，从20世纪后25年以来，对语法研究的更为复杂的意识，已经在学校生根发芽。在一些国家，如澳大利亚，英国，新的英语课程中语法是重点，而且避免之前僵硬的规范，提倡生动而深刻的调查精神。