English Traditional Grammars

Book excerpt: Until recently grammars of English have received surprisingly little scholarly attention, while a lot of research is done on dictionaries. It appears, however, that learners of English shy away from modern grammars and prefer to consult dictionaries or traditional reference grammars instead. This raises questions as to the relationship between theoretical linguistics and grammar writing and calls for more research into this area, especially for the period from 1800 onwards, which was crucial for the development of grammatical thinking and its acceptance (or rejection) at all educational levels today.This volume brings together work from international experts on the historiography of English grammar writing who deal with a variety of topics grouped into three overlapping sections: I. Native Grammars of English, II. Non-native Grammars of English, and III. Grammatical Analyses. The volume includes summaries of the articles and a name index.