Traditional Grammar and Modern Linguistics

3. Traditional Grammar Vs. Modern Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of language and its structure, including the study of grammar, syntax, and phonetics. In contrast, traditional grammar is to the type of language study that existed before the beginnings of modern linguistics. It was a collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of language. Most importantly, traditional grammar is prescriptive whereas modern linguistics is descriptive. This is the main difference between traditional grammar and modern linguistics.

Furthermore, most traditional grammarians considered written form as the most important aspect of language; however, modern linguists consider speech as the most important aspect of language. Moreover, traditional grammar attempted to force language into a Latin-based framework, but modern linguists do not judge one language by the standards of another.