Every language is bound by a collection of systematic rules
“What is ‘grammar’?” series: Part 2
As we discussed in Part 1, “grammar” in Linguistics is the entire collection of systematic rules underlying and binding a language.
However, popular conceptions of the term “grammar” often miss out on the point that it is “systematic”—that is, it is applied universally to all situations within that language as long as the conditions are the same.
Within the grammar (remember, we are talking about systematic grammar!) of a language, there are many different individual rules that interact with each other in systematic—but often complex—ways. These rules span every “level” of the language, from parts of words, to words, phrases, clauses and sentences.
For example, there are systematic rules in a language’s grammar that restrict how words can be put together to form longer units like phrases and sentences. This area of grammar is called “syntax” (the scientific term for “word order”).
An example of a systematic rule of English syntax is that every finite clause must have an explicit subject—that is, the subject cannot be dropped.
For example:
✓ I think he knows.
X I think ^ knows*.
In these examples, since “[ he knows ]” is a clause that is embedded within the outer clause “[ I think… ]”, it must have an explicit subject, like the “he” here. If the subject “he” is dropped, the sentence would violate a systematic syntax rule in English and would be incorrect in English grammar.
Apart from syntax, there are also systematic rules in a language’s grammar that determine how individual words can be formed, and how word forms can change to express different meanings. This area of grammar is called “morphology.”
An example of a systematic rule of English morphology is that the word ending “-ing” is added to the base forms of verbs to create a noun form representing that action.
For example:
watch (base form of the verb) —> “watching” (noun form of the action)
✓ I like watching horror movies.
In the example above, the base form of the verb “watch” takes on the “-ing” ending and turns into a noun form representing the action. In the sentence, “watching horror movies” is a noun phrase that correctly acts as the object of “I like.”
Once again, the important thing to understand about “grammar” in the scientific sense is that it is always systematic.
There are never any “real exceptions” to systematic grammatical rules in the sense that something is applied to one sentence, or is allowed in one sentence, but is not applied to or allowed in another sentence with exactly the same conditions.
However, as there are many different interconnected aspects of grammar, and these interact with each other in complex—sometimes extremely complex—ways, we often find what seem like “exceptions” to systematic rules in the sentences we encounter.
How do linguists deal with seeming “exceptions” to systematic grammar when they arise? Because linguists study language scientifically, they would try to account for these seeming “exceptions” through systematic analysis, fitting them into the same grammatical framework that they have established for that language.
Part 3 and Part 4 of this series will explore how we should understand “exceptions” when we want to look at grammar in a scientific way.
每種語言都有一套規範著它的系統性規則
「grammar」（文法）是甚麼系列：第 2篇
我們在這系列的第一章討論過，語言學中的「grammar」（文法）是指規範著語言的一套系統性規則。
只是，普羅大眾對「grammar」的概念卻經常缺少了一個重點概念：「系統性」－ 即這些規則會在相同條件下的所有情況中規範語言。
在某一種語言的「grammar」中 （記得，我們說的是「系統性」的「grammar」！) 存在著許多不同的獨立規則，它們以有系統但複雜的方式相互影響。這些規則涵蓋了語言的每個「層次」，包括比單字還小的部分到獨立單字、詞組、子句，以至句子。
例如，有一些系統性的規則限制著單字形成更長單元 （例如詞組和句子）的組合方式。這範疇稱為「syntax」（即「詞序」)。
其中一個規範英文「syntax」的系統性規則，就是每個有限定動詞的子句都必須具有一個明確的主語（subject），換言之，就是不能沒有主語。
例如:
✓ I think he knows.
X I think ^ knows*.
由於 [ he knows ] 是一個被包裹在外層子句 [ I think… ] 裡面的子句，它一定會有一個明確的主語，就像這裡的「he」。如果主語「he」被省略，這句子便違反了英文的一個系統性「syntax」規則，不會正確。
除了「syntax」外，語言文法中還有一些系統性的規則規範著單字如何形成，以及單字為表達不同意思而轉變字形的方式。此範疇的文法稱為「morphology」（形態學）。
英文「morphology」的其中一個系統性規則，是在動詞基本字形的後面加入字尾「-ing」，便能將動詞轉換成能表達該動作意思的名詞字形。
例如:
watch (動詞基本字形) —> “watching” (該動作的名詞字形)
✓ I like watching horror movies.
上述例句中，動詞基本字形「watch」在加上字尾「-ing」後變成可表達該動作的名詞，而「watching horror movies」則是一個可以擔任「I like」的賓語 （object）的名詞組。
再重申，從科學角度去理解「grammar」，重點是它的系統性。
系統性的「grammar」從不存在任何「例外」，不會出現有系統性的規則只在某句子中適用，卻無法應用於另一個條件相同的句子的情況。
不過，文法中確實有很多不同層面的交集和聯繫，不同的規則會以複雜（有時甚至是極為複雜）的方式相互影響，因此才經常讓我們覺得有很多「例外」。
對於這些看似沒有系統的「例外」，語言學家是如何對待的？由於語言學家一向都以科學角度研究語言，他們會嘗試透過系統性的分析來解釋這些似乎是「例外」的情況，並將之融入他們為該語言建立的文法框架當中。（雖然，他們討論不同題目時，也經常會有不同見解。）