grammar
English
Alternative forms
- grammary (archaic)
Etymology
From Middle English gramer, gramarye, gramery, from Old French gramaire (“classical learning”), from 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”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹæmɚ/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -æmə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: gram‧mar
Noun
grammar (countable and uncountable, plural grammars)
- A system of rules and principles for speaking and writing a language.
- (uncountable, linguistics) The study of the internal structure of words (morphology) and the use of words in the construction of phrases and sentences (syntax).
- A book describing the rules of grammar of a language.
- (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.
- 2006, Patrick Blackburn · Johan Bos · Kristina Striegnitz, Learn Prolog Now!, §8.2
- (computing theory) A formal system defining a formal language
- 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.
- 2011, Javier Solana and Daniel Innerarity, Project Syndicate, The New Grammar of Power:
- (Britain, archaic) A textbook.
- a grammar of geography
- (Britain) A grammar school.
- 2012, Graeme Paton, A green light for more grammars? (in The Daily Telegraph, 11 January 2012)
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
Translations
rules for speaking and writing a language
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study of internal structure and use of words
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book describing grammar
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in computing: formal system specifying the syntax of a language
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Verb
grammar (third-person singular simple present grammars, present participle grammaring, simple past and past participle grammared)
- (obsolete, intransitive) To discourse according to the rules of grammar; to use grammar.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Beaumont and Fletcher to this entry?)
Manx
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. | ||
Synonyms
Related terms
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