Q.1 What Dr. Johnson had done for the vocabulary was attempted for the syntax by the grammarians of the eighteenth century. Books on English grammar had begun to appear in the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth, they were compiled by even such authors as Ben Jonson and Milton. Only in the 18th century was English grammar viewed as a subject deserving of study in it. Keeping these facts in view, write a comprehensive note on the beginnings and problems of Prescriptive Grammar in the 18th century. Note: Go through the topics 138 and 139 for better understanding. (Marks 20) The Beginnings of Prescriptive Grammar: (10 Marks) To endorse and to restrict appear to have been facilitating points of the grammarians. A considerable lot of the present shows in books were first expressed in this period. The prescriptive differentiation between the two action words untruth and lay was first made in the second 50% of the eighteenth century. Before that, intransitive lay was not viewed as a solecism. The articulations had rather, would do well to were censured by Johnson, Lowth, and Campbell. It is conceivable to call attention to different issues of use contested by grammarians. For instance, the appropriate case after that and similar to an inquiry that grieved them: • He is taller than I, or me. Lowth’s view is accepted till today; the pronoun is determined by the construction to be supplied or understood. So, • He is older than she. • He likes you better than me. Another confusing inquiry concerned the case before the "ing" word (I don't care for him doing that or his doing that). 'His' here was contradicted by Harris, Lowth, and others, yet Webster held that this was 'the real English phrase' and the lone reasonable structure. His assessment has come to be the one broadly held. At long last, we may take note of that the eighteenth century is answerable for the judgment of the twofold negative. Lowth expressed the standard that we are currently limited by: 'Two negatives in English annihilate each other, or are comparable to a certifiable.' Thus a helpful saying was exiled from courteous discourse. Problems of Prescriptive Grammar: (10 Marks) While recognizing the outcomes achieved by the eighteenth-century grammarians and reformers, it is important to underline the genuine constraints. Their most noteworthy shortcoming was that they didn't perceive the significance of utilization. They didn't understand and wouldn't recognize that adjustments in language are hasty and can be nonsensical. Truth is told; they moved toward the vast majority of the inquiries through rationale and forced position. Thus, the steady endeavor was to administer one development into utilization and another out of utilization. No acknowledgment appeared for the authenticity of separated utilization. Noah Webster said when they would not put together their articulations with respect to current realities of current use; they were declining to safeguard an arrangement among books and practice. They were contributing 'particularly to make and propagate contrasts between the composed and communicated in language.' The root source of this was the obliviousness of the cycles of phonetic change. The recorded investigation of English was as yet in its outset. Despite the fact that the materials were quickly opening up, they didn't understand their significance.
