grammar

grammar

English

Alternative forms

• grammary (archaic)
• grammer (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English gramer, gramarye, gramery, from Old French gramaire (“classical learning”), from the unattested *grammāria, an alteration of Latin grammatica, from Ancient Greek γραμματική (grammatikḗ, “skilled in writing”), from γράμμα (grámma, “line of writing”), from γράφω (gráphō, “write”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to carve, scratch”). Displaced native Old English stæfcræft.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹæ.mə(ɹ)/
• (General American) enPR: gră'mər, IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹæ.mɚ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æmə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: gram‧mar

Noun

grammar (countable and uncountable, plural grammars)

1. A system of rules and principles for speaking and writing a language.
2. (uncountable, linguistics) The study of the internal structure of words (morphology) and the use of words in the construction of phrases and sentences (syntax).
3. A book describing the rules of grammar of a language.
4. (computing theory) A formal system specifying the syntax of a language.
   • 2006, Patrick Blackburn · Johan Bos · Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now!, §8.2

     Because real lexicons are big and complex, from a software engineering perspective it is best to write simple grammars that have a simple, well-defined way, of pulling out the information they need from vast lexicons. That is, grammars should be thought of as separate entities which can access the information contained in lexicons. We can then use specialised mechanisms for efficiently storing the lexicon and retrieving data from it.

5. Actual or presumed prescriptive notions about the correct use of a language.
6. (computing theory) A formal system defining a formal language
7. The basic rules or principles of a field of knowledge or a particular skill.
   • 2011, Javier Solana and Daniel Innerarity, Project Syndicate, The New Grammar of Power:

     We must learn a new grammar of power in a world that is made up more of the common good – or the common bad – than of self-interest or national interest.

8. (Britain, archaic) A book describing these rules or principles; a textbook.

   a grammar of geography

   • 1926, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “VI: A Summary”, in The Outline of Sanity, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., OCLC 776601877:

     To turn this sort of mixture of a gossip and a gospel into anything like a grammar of Distributism has been quite impossible.

9. (UK) A grammar school.
   • 2012 January 11, Graeme Paton, “A green light for more grammars?”, in The Daily Telegraph:

Synonyms

• (study & field of study in medieval Latin contexts): glomery
• (linguistics): morpho-syntax (from the relationship between morphology and syntax)

Hyponyms

• context-sensitive grammar
• finite-state grammar
• Turing-complete grammar
• normative grammar

Derived terms

• dependency grammar
• grammar checker
• grammar cop
• grammarian
• grammarless
• grammarlike
• grammar Nazi
• grammar police
• grammar school

 

Related terms

• glamour
• gramarye

Translations

rules for speaking and writing a language

Afrikaans: grammatika (af) Albanian: gramatikë (sq) f Amharic: ሰዋሰው (säwasäw) Arabic: قَوَاعِد‎ (ar) pl (qawāʿid), نَحْو‎ m (naḥw) Hijazi Arabic: قَواعِد‎ f pl (qawāʿid) Aragonese: gramatica f Armenian: քերականություն (hy) (kʿerakanutʿyun) Assamese: ব্যাকৰণ (byakoron) Asturian: gramática f Azerbaijani: qrammatika (az) Bashkir: грамматика (grammatika) Basque: gramatika (eu) Belarusian: грама́тыка f (hramátyka) Bengali: ব্যাকরণ (bn) (bẏakôrôṇô) Bikol Central: balanghayan Breton: yezhadur (br) Bulgarian: грама́тика (bg) f (gramátika) Burmese: သဒ္ဒါ (my) (sadda) Catalan: gramàtica (ca) f Chinese: Cantonese: 文法 (man4 faat3), 語法, 语法 (jyu5 faat3) Dungan: йүфа (yüfa) Hakka: 語法, 语法 (ngî-fap) Mandarin: 語法／语法 (zh) (yǔfǎ), 文法 (zh) (wénfǎ) Min Dong: 語法, 语法 (ngṳ̄-huák) Min Nan: 文法 (zh-min-nan) (bûn-hoat), 語法 (zh-min-nan), 语法 (gír-hoat, gú-hoat, gí-hoat) Wu: 語法, 语法 (nyy faq) Chuvash: грамматика (grammat̬ik̬a) Czech: mluvnice (cs) f, gramatika (cs) f Danish: grammatik (da) c Dutch: spraakkunst (nl) f, grammatica (nl) f Esperanto: gramatiko Estonian: grammatika, keeleõpetus Faroese: mállæra f Finnish: kielioppi (fi) French: grammaire (fr) f Galician: gramática f Georgian: გრამატიკა (gramaṭiḳa) German: Grammatik (de) f, Sprachlehre (de) f Greek: γραμματική (el) f (grammatikí) Ancient: γραμματική f (grammatikḗ) Greenlandic: oqaasilerissutit Gujarati: વ્યાકરણ (gu) m (vyākraṇ) Hausa: nahawu (ha) Hebrew: דִּקְדּוּק‎ m (dikduk) Hindi: व्याकरण (hi) m (vyākraṇ), ब्याकरण m (byākraṇ) Fiji Hindi: vyakaran Hungarian: nyelvtan (hu) Icelandic: málfræði (is) f Ilocano: alagadan Indonesian: tata bahasa (id) Interlingua: grammatica (ia) Irish: gramadach f Italian: grammatica (it) f Japanese: 文法 (ja) (ぶんぽう, bunpō) Kannada: ವ್ಯಾಕರಣ (kn) (vyākaraṇa) Kazakh: грамматика (grammatika) Khmer: វេយ្យាករណ៍ (km) (vɨyyiəkɑɑ) Korean: 문법(文法) (ko) (munbeop) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ڕێزمان‎ (ku) (rêzman) Northern Kurdish: rêziman (ku) Kyrgyz: грамматика (ky) (grammatika) Ladino: gramatika Lao: ໄວຍະກອນ (lo) (wai nya kǭn) Latvian: gramatika f Lithuanian: gramatika (lt) f Luxembourgish: Grammaire f, Grammatik f Macedonian: граматика f (gramatika) Malay: tatabahasa (ms), parmasastera Malayalam: വ്യാകരണം (ml) (vyākaraṇaṃ) Maltese: grammatika f Manx: grammeydys Maori: tikanga wetereo, wetereo Marathi: व्याकरण n (vyākraṇ) Mirandese: gramática f Mongolian: Cyrillic: хэл зүй (mn) (xel züj), дүрэм (mn) (dürem) Nepali: व्याकरण (ne) (vyākaraṇ) Newar: व्याकरण (wyākaraṇa) Norman: grammaithe f Northern Sami: giellaoahppa Norwegian: Bokmål: grammatikk (no) m Nynorsk: grammatikk m Occitan: gramatica (oc) f Old English: stæfcræft m Ossetian: грамматикӕ (grammatikæ) Pashto: ګرامر‎ m (gerāmár), صرف و نحو‎ (ps) f (sarfonáhwa), پښويه‎ (ps) f (pӽóya), ژبدود‎ m (žǝbdód), ګړپوهنه‎ f (gǝṛрohǝ́na) Persian: دستور زبان‎ (fa) (dastur-e zabân), گرامر‎ (fa) (gerâmer) Polish: gramatyka (pl) f Portuguese: gramática (pt) f Punjabi: ਵਿਆਕਰਨ (viākaran) Quechua: simi kamachiy Romanian: gramatică (ro) f Russian: грамма́тика (ru) f (grammátika) Rusyn: ґрама́тіка f (gramátika) Rwanda-Rundi: ikibonezamvugo (Rwanda) Samogitian: gramatėka f Sanskrit: व्याकरण (sa) n (vyākaraṇa) Scottish Gaelic: gràmar m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: грама̀тика f, сло́вница f Roman: gramàtika (sh) f, slóvnica (sh) f Sinhalese: ව්‍යාකරණ (wyākaraṇa) Slovak: gramatika (sk) f Slovene: slovnica (sl) Spanish: gramática (es) f Swahili: sarufi (sw) Swedish: grammatik (sv) c Tagalog: balarila Tajik: дастури забон (tg) (dasturi zabon), грамматика (tg) (grammatika) Tamil: இலக்கணம் (ta) (ilakkaṇam) Tatar: грамматика (tt) (grammatika) Telugu: నామవాచకం (te) (nāmavācakaṁ) Thai: ไวยากรณ์ (th) (wai-yaa-gɔɔn) Tibetan: བརྡ་སྤྲོད་ཀྱི་གཞུང (brda sprod kyi gzhung), སུམ་རྟགས (sum rtags) Turkish: dil bilgisi (tr), gramer (tr) Turkmen: grammatika (tk) Ukrainian: грама́тика f (hramátyka) Urdu: ویاکرن‎ m (vyākaraṇ), قواعدِ زبان‎ (qawā'id-e zabān) Uyghur: گرامماتىكا‎ (grammatika) Uzbek: grammatika (uz) Vietnamese: ngữ pháp (vi) (語法 (vi)) Volapük: gramat (vo) Welsh: gramadeg (cy) Yiddish: גראַמאַטיק‎ (yi) f (gramatik) Zealandic: grammaotica Zhuang: yijfaz

study of internal structure and use of words

Albanian: gramatikë (sq) f Arabic: عِلْم قَوَاعِد‎ m (ʿilm qawāʿid) Belarusian: грама́тыка f (hramátyka) Bulgarian: грама́тика (bg) f (gramátika) Catalan: gramàtica (ca) Finnish: kielioppi (fi) French: grammaire (fr) f Galician: gramática f German: Grammatik (de) f, Grammatiktheorie (de) f, Sprachlehre (de) f, Sprachkunst (de) f Greek: γραμματική (el) f (grammatikí) Ancient: γραμματική f (grammatikḗ) Interlingua: grammatica (ia) Italian: grammatica (it) f Japanese: 文法 (ja) (ぶんぽう, bunpō) Korean: * Korean: 문법(文法) (ko) (munbeop), 문법학(文法學) (munbeophak) Latin: grammatica (la) f, grammatice f, litteratio f, litteratoria f Latvian: gramatika f Macedonian: граматика f (gramatika) Maori: wetereo Norman: grammaithe f Persian: دستور زبان‎ (fa) (dastur-e zabân), گرامر‎ (fa) (gerâmer) Polish: gramatyka (pl) f Portuguese: gramática (pt) f Russian: грамма́тика (ru) f (grammátika) Scottish Gaelic: gràmar m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: грама̀тика f Roman: gramàtika (sh) f Slovene: slovnica (sl) Spanish: gramática (es) f Swedish: grammatik (sv) c Tajik: дастури забон (tg) (dasturi zabon), грамматика (tg) (grammatika) Turkish: dil bilgisi (tr), gramer (tr)

book describing grammar

Arabic: قَوَاعِد‎ (ar) pl (qawāʿid) Bulgarian: уче́бник по грама́тика m (učébnik po gramátika) Catalan: gramàtica (ca) Dutch: spraakkunstboek n Estonian: grammatika Faroese: mállæra f Finnish: kielioppikirja French: grammaire (fr) f Galician: gramática f German: Grammatik (de) f, Sprachlehre (de) f Greek: γραμματική (el) f (grammatikí) Icelandic: málfræði (is) f, málfræðibók f Interlingua: grammatica (ia) Italian: grammatica (it) f Japanese: 文法書 (ぶんぽうしょ, bunpōsho) Korean: 문법책(文法冊) (ko) (munbeopchaek) Latvian: gramatika f Macedonian: граматика f (gramatika) Manx: lioar ghrammeydys f Maori: pukapuka wetereo Norman: grammaithe f Norwegian: Bokmål: grammatikk (no) m Nynorsk: grammatikk m Occitan: gramatica (oc) f Portuguese: gramática (pt) f Russian: уче́бник по грамма́тике m (učébnik po grammátike), грамма́тика (ru) f (grammátika) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: грама̀тика f, сло́вница f Roman: gramàtika (sh) f, slóvnica (sh) f Slovene: slovnica (sl) Spanish: gramática (es) f Swedish: grammatik (sv) c, grammatikbok c, språklära c Turkish: dil bilgisi kitabı, gramer kitabı Ukrainian: грама́тика f (hramátyka)

in computing: formal system specifying the syntax of a language

Arabic: قَوَاعِد‎ (ar) pl (qawāʿid) Bulgarian: грама́тика (bg) f (gramátika) Chinese: Mandarin: 語法／语法 (zh) (yǔfǎ) Czech: gramatika (cs) f Finnish: kielioppi (fi) French: grammaire (fr) f Galician: gramática f German: Grammatik (de) f Greek: γραμματική (el) f (grammatikí) Japanese: 文法 (ja) (ぶんぽう, bunpō) Macedonian: граматика f (gramatika) Norman: grammaithe f Polish: gramatyka (pl) f Portuguese: gramática (pt) f Russian: грамма́тика (ru) f (grammátika) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: грама̀тика f Roman: gramàtika (sh) f Swedish: grammatik (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Basque: (please verify) gramatika (eu) Hindi: (please verify) व्याकरण (hi) (vyākraṇ) Indonesian: (please verify) tata bahasa (id)

Verb

grammar (third-person singular simple present grammars, present participle grammaring, simple past and past participle grammared)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To discourse according to the rules of grammar; to use grammar.
   • c. 1619–1623, John Ford, “The Lavves of Candy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, OCLC 3083972, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     She is in her Moods, and her Tenses: / I'll Grammar with you, / And make a trial how I can decline you

See also

• grammar on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Appendix:Glossary of grammar
• Category:Grammar

Further reading

• grammar at The Septic's Companion: A British Slang Dictionary

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Manx

Noun

grammar m (genitive singular [please provide], plural [please provide])

1. grammar

Synonyms

• grammeydys

Related terms

• grammeydagh
• neughrammeydoil

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
grammar	ghrammar	ngrammar
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.