a. Explain how you understand prescriptiveness in linguistics.

In your opinion, is it a
positive or a negative approach?

prescriptiveness in linguistics :

In modern linguistics, “prescriptive grammar” refers to a grammar approach that emerged in the
18th Century and reached its peak during the 19th Century as “born out by the large numbers of
grammars that were produced” (Ostade, 2008, p. 6). During the 17th and 18th Centuries, disturbed
by the ever-increasing language variation, some people called for the establishment of an English
academy to regulate the use of the English language. Nonetheless, proposals for such academies
“died aborning” in both England and the United States (Mulroy, 2003). Something else, however,
filled this gap. It was an increase in the publications of authoritative English grammars. These
works became immensely popular, so much so that the 18th century has been described as “ a
period when ideas of correctness became an obsession” (Hitchings, 2011, p. 80). Three works were
particularly influential: Bishop Robert Lowth’s Short Introduction to Grammar (1762), Lindley
Murray’s English Grammar (1794), and Dr. Samuel Johnson’s magnum opus A Dictionary of the
English Language (1755) Crystal, 2019). These works intended to demonstrate what the authors
believed to be correct and proper usage. They were normative in nature. Nonetheless, as shall be
seen in due course, the claim that these prescriptive works were mere opinions about language
usage created by pundits who lived in ivory towers does not hold water.

- Prescriptive grammar:
Set of grammatical rules prescribed by a language authority. it is basically a set of rules that
prescribes or defines how we are supposed to speak, typically, according to some authority
(teachers, parents, writings or a handbooks ) , it can be describe as ( “ proper “ or “ correct “
language ).

Example: a prescriptive grammar would reject; “ he goes “ ; meaning ; “ he said “ , as incorrect

language.
Another example that prescriptive grammarians believe to be wrong:

“ John is older than her.”

- Although the above form is used by actual speakers, prescriptive grammar considers it an
example of bad language, contending that the right form should be:

“ John is older than she”.

- Prescriptive grammarians believe that the word ‘than’ is used as a conjunction that should be
followed by a subject pronoun. The correct form according to this approach should be ‘he is
older than she (is)’.

Examples of prescriptive grammar rules :

- Don’t use a double negative ( ex : I didn’t eat nothing ) .
- Don’t end a sentence in a preposition ( ex : where did you go to ).
- Don’t split infinities ( ex: he urged me to casually walk and say hello ).

Where did this rules came from :

People thought that Latin as the most elegant , logical , well structured language , so they tried to
make English behave like Latin , however there are rules that doesn’t work in English language
for example :
- Latin language relies on case ending ( inflections )
 - Latin has case endings , not prepositions .
- You can’t split infinities in Latin because they are a single word.

- Is it positive or a negative approach?

As it is , prescriptive grammar can be both a positive and a negative approach , for instant ,
Teaching prescriptive grammar creates formal writers and resources and it is beneficial for both
non-native teachers and learners, as it has definite rules of language that help reduce confusion , yet
, if traditional grammar did not study grammar prescriptively, it would not be possible for modern
linguistics to find, refuse and replace the wrong aspects of traditional grammar with descriptive study
of language, it is essential as it helps people use formal English speech and writing. In addition,
"those who follow it (or those who endorse others to follow it) claim that doing so will help to
streamline one's words and make one's prose more elegant" (Tamasi & Antieau, 2015, p. 24-25).
Schools aim to teach prescriptive grammar to provide people a common standard of usage.
. On the other hand , Prescriptive grammar might keep non -native speakers wondering and
confused when they talk with a native speaker, as they might realize that some natives do not write
or speak with these rules . Sometimes, the system of the target language cannot be applied on the
source language "mother tongue".

e.g. the gender system of the Arabic language cannot be applied in English.
e.g. we can start a sentence in Arabic with N.P , V.P or P.P but in English you can only begin with
N.P.

b. Compile some statements of prescriptivism and descriptivism in language. Good

sources for prescriptivist claims are work by William Safire (1980) and John Simon
(1980). Good sources favoring descriptivism are works by Jim Quinn (1980) and Steven
Pinker (1994).

Prescriptivism:

“we say that traditional grammar is prescriptive because it focuses on the distinction between what
people do with language and what they ought to do with it , according to pre-established standard . “
- ( James D Williams , the teacher’s grammar book , Rowtledge , 2005).

“ the prescriptive rules have to be amended occasionally to reflect not only changes in the language
but also research that proves traditional advice may have been inaccurate “
- ( Brian book , James pinson and Jean Graddy Wilson , Working with words , Macmillan ,
2005 ).

According to linguists Ilse Depraetere and Chad Langford, "A prescriptive grammar is one that
gives hard and fast rules about what is right (or grammatical) and what is wrong (or
ungrammatical), often with advice about what not to say but with little explanation" (Advanced
English Grammar: A Linguistic Approach, 2012).

"[Prescriptivism is the] policy of describing languages as we would like them to be, rather than as
we find them. Typical examples of prescriptivist attitudes are the condemnation of preposition
stranding and of the split infinitive and a demand for It's I in place of the normal It's me."

- R.L. Trask. Dictionary of English Grammar. Penguin, 2000

"A prescriptive grammar is essentially a manual that focuses on constructions where usage is divided
and lays down rules governing the socially correct use of language. These grammars were a formative
influence on language attitudes in Europe and America during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their
influence lives on in the handbooks of usage widely found today, such as A Dictionary of Modern
English Usage (1926) by Henry Watson Fowler (1858-1933), though such books include
recommendations about the use of pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary as well as grammar."

- David Crystal, How Language Works. Overlook Press, 2005

"I think sensible prescriptivism ought to be part of any education."

– Noam Chomsky, "Language, Politics, and Composition," 1991. Chomsky on Democracy and
Education, ed. by Carlos Peregrín Otero. RoutledgeFalmer, 2003

Descriptivism:

[D]escriptivism is like common law, which works on precedent and accumulates slowly over
time. Prescriptivism is an authoritarian version of code law, which says precedent be damned: if
the rule book says this is the law, that's that."

(Robert Lane Greene, You Are What You Speak. Delacorte, 2011)

"Excepting only in certain educational contexts, modern linguists utterly reject prescriptivism, and their
investigations are based instead on descriptivism. In a descriptivist approach, we try to describe the
facts of linguistic behavior exactly as we find them, and we refrain from making value judgments about
the speech of native speakers. . . .
(R.L. Trask, Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. Routledge, 1999)

"Descriptivism is a central tenet of what we regard as a scientific approach to the study of

language: the very first requirement in any scientific investigation is to get the facts right."

(R.L. Trask, Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. Routledge, 1999)

"To a great extent, this is a story of a contest about who speaks authoritatively about the character
of language and the methods for analyzing and describing it. The story reflects a continuing
struggle to gain the exclusive right to speak authoritatively about language. The details reveal that
prescriptivism remains entrenched in ostensibly descriptive as well as admittedly prescriptive
approaches. For one thing, despite a professed commitment to descriptivism, professional linguists
sometimes espouse prescriptivist positions, though not often about particular items of style or
grammar."

(Edward Finegan, "Usage." The Cambridge History of the English Language: English in North
America, ed. J. Algeo. Cambridge University Press, 2001)

2. Explain Bloomfield’s contribution to linguistics.

Bloomfield was considered as the father of “American structuralism”, he believed that we

must study people’s habits of language, the way they talk without bothering about the mental
process. He believes that writing is an attempt, more or less systematic, at making visual records
of language utterances, he also differentiate between the acquisition of literary and the
acquisition of speech.
 FACT :

Bloomfield’s first manuscript laid out a truly innovative approach to reading instruction that
could have commercial possibilities if it were published and tested in the instructional
marketplace

His publications :

- In 1914 , Bloomfield published “ An introduction to the study of language “ a book in which

he laid out his basic ideas about the nature of language, a focus on spoken language as
primary , written language as secondary, observation of language as a present day reality to
speakers , rather than from and external , historical point of view , and an insert in the variety
of linguistic system in the world.
- In 1917 , “Tagalog texts with grammatical analysis” in which showed how much he as
extending his interests beyond the traditional Indo-European orbit.
- The book “ language “ was published in 1933, it was one of the most important general
treatment of linguistics science in the first half of the 20th century.

Structural linguistics in America.

Bloomfield prepared the way for the later phase of what is now thought of as the most distinctive
manifestation of American “structuralism”. When he published his first book in 1914, Bloomfield
was strongly influenced by Wundt psychology of language. In 1933, however, he published a
drastically revised and expanded version with the new title Language; this book dominated the field
for the next 30 years. In it Bloomfield explicitly adopted a behavioristic approach to the study of
language, eschewing in the name of scientific objectivity all reference to mental or conceptual
categories. Of particular consequence was his adoption of the behavioristic theory of semantics
according to which meaning is simply the relationship between a stimulus and a verbal response.
Because science was still a long way from being able to give a comprehensive account of most
stimuli, no significant or interesting results could be expected from the study of meaning for some
considerable time, and it was preferable, as far as possible, to avoid basing the grammatical analysis
of a language on semantic considerations.
Bloomfield’s followers pushed even further the attempt to develop methods of linguistic analysis
that were not based on meaning. One of the most characteristic features of “ post-Bloomfieldian”
American structuralism, then, was its almost complete neglect of semantics. (see also Index:
stimulus- response theory) .

Bloomfield and Post-Bloomfieldians

At this stage, and with respect to the issue of defining linguistic elements and categories and the
relations that hold between them, it is expedient to talk about American structuralism. Here, the
name of Leonard Bloomfield must be mentioned although it is commonly held that American
structuralism is more post-Bloomfieldian than Bloomfield per-se. the post Bloomfieldians (cf.
Bloch, Harris, Hockett, and others) developed a system of mechanical procedures for the analysis of
linguistic structures, and methodological statements (frameworks) with distribution as the criterion
of relevance: that was an attempt to get away from analytical operations that would have to refer to
‘meaning’ as was the case for Bloomfield, for whom ‘the study of speech-sounds without regard to
meaning is an abstraction’ (1933: 139), and whose trouble was that ‘the statement of meaning is ...
the weak point in language study, and will remain so until human knowledge advances very far
beyond its present state’ (1933: 140).
BOUNOUARA Mokhtaria , group 5 , second year .