Comparative grammar is a method that traces the differences and relationships between languages by comparing their elements like phonology, grammar and core vocabulary. It was the most important branch of linguistics in the 19th century in Europe and was stimulated by the discovery that Sanskrit was related to Latin, Greek and German. Comparative grammar studies sound and meaning correspondences between languages to determine their historical relationships and influences.
2. Comparative Grammar
Comparative grammar is the
grammar that aims to trace the
differences of a language to other
languages. It is done by comparing
the elements of different languages.
5. Comparative Grammar
Comparative linguistics, formerly
COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR, is the study of
relationships or correspondences
between two or more languages and the
techniques used to discover whether the
languages have a common ancestor.
9. Comparative Grammar
Comparative linguistics includes the study of
the historical relationships of languages using
the comparative method to search for regular
(i.e. recurring) correspondences between the
languages' phonology, grammar and core
vocabulary, and through hypothesis testing;
10. Comparative Grammar
some persons with little or no specialization in
the field sometimes attempt to establish
historical associations between languages by
noting similarities between them, in a way that
is considered pseudoscientific by specialists
(e.g. African/Egyptian comparisons[9]).
11. Comparative Grammar
Comparative grammar was the most important
branch of linguistics in the 19th century in Europe.
Also called comparative philology, the study
was originally stimulated by the discovery by Sir
William Jones in 1786 that Sanskrit was related to
Latin, Greek and German.
13. Comparative Grammar
The study of grammar began with the ancient Greeks,
who engaged in philosophical speculation about
languages and described language structure. This
grammatical tradition was passed on to the Romans,
who translated the Greek names for the parts of speech
and grammatical endings into Latin; many of these terms
(nominative, accusative, dative) are still found in modern
grammars.
14. Comparative Grammar
But the Greeks and Romans were unable to determine
how languages are related. This problem spurred the
development of comparative grammar, which became
the dominant approach to linguistic science in the 19th
century.
15. Comparative Grammar
Early grammatical study appears to
have gone hand in hand with efforts
to understand archaic writings. Thus,
grammar was originally tied to
societies with long-standing written
traditions.
16. The Sanskrit
Sanskrit is the ancient sacred and literary
language of India. The sacred scriptures of
Hindus are written in Sanskrit. Sanskrit
belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the
Indo-European language family. It is
written in the Devanagari script, shown.
17. The Scriptures
In the 10th century the Jews
completed a Hebrew lexicon;
they also produced a study
of the language of the Old
Testament.
18. The Scriptures
The Greek grammarian Dionysiu
s Thrax wrote the Art of
Grammar, upon which many
later Greek, Latin, and other
European grammars were
based.
19. Spread of Christianity and Grammar
With the spread of Christianity and
the translation of the Scriptures
into the languages of the new
Christians, written literatures
began to develop among previously
nonliterate peoples.
20. Comparative Grammar
Comparative grammar was the most important
branch of linguistics in the 19th century in Europe.
Also called comparative philology, the study
was originally stimulated by the discovery by Sir
William Jones in 1786 that Sanskrit was related to
Latin, Greek and German.
21. Comparative Grammar
Comparative grammar was the most important
branch of linguistics in the 19th century in Europe.
Also called comparative philology, the study
was originally stimulated by the discovery by Sir
William Jones in 1786 that Sanskrit was related to
Latin, Greek and German.
23. Comparative Grammar
Specialists in comparative grammar study
sound and meaning correspondences among
languages to determine their relationship to
one another (see Language). By looking at
similar forms in related languages,
grammarians can discover how different
languages may have influenced one another.