Alan McConnell - Duff
Grammar by Michael Swan
■ Abstract
A brief outline is given of the contents, as
described by the chapter headings. The review
concludes with an assessment of the impor-
tance of this book as a reference work, both for
Professional use and for personal interest.
Key words: review, grammar, world
languages, spoken and written
■ Izvleček
Slovnica Michaela Svvana
V knjižni oceni je kritiško predstavljena Slovnica,
ki jo je napisal Michael Swan. Vsebina je na krat¬
ko orisana pod naslovi posameznih razdelkov. Na
koncu knjižne ocene je poudarjen pomen te knji¬
ge kot strokovnega priročnika, bodisi za poklicno
rabo ali osebno zanimanje.
Ključne besede: ocena, slovnica, svetovni
jeziki, govorjeni in pisni
Oxford to Language Study
Serks EditorH.G:Widdowson
Grammar
Michael Svvan
Swan, Michael. 2005. Grammar. Oxford Introduc-
tions to Language Study. Oxford: Oxford Univer-
sity Press.
Obseg: 130 str. formata 13 cm x 20 cm
ISBN 0-19-437241-3
Cena: 3.671 SIT [15,32 EUR]
Language is what distinguishes us as human
beings. It is our greatest cognitive achievement,
and the foundation of ali our other achievements.
Michael Svvan
The reputation which Michael Svvan has
built up over the years as an author of text books
and guides to English usage is truly vvell-deserved. Many readers vvill surely be
familiar vvith his indispensable, ever-useful, by novv classic vvork Practical English
Usage (recently reissued in a fully revised third edition). Novv he has added to
his impressive list of achievements a vvelcome nevv vvork vvith the simple title
Grammar.
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PREDSTAVITVE,MNENJAIOCEN
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Well aware that the title itself might be off-putting, the author, with his
characteristic directness, introduces the work with the challenging words: “If
grammar is dull, as it often is, the problem may be one of focus.” He then goes
on to clarify, with a short passage which is worth quoting in full:
Students commonly learn about such phenomena as pronouns or relative
clauses, or study the strange ways in which the foreign languages organize their
grammatical affairs, without gaining very much sense of why languages should
have these features. It is rather as if one studied, say, a dragonfly purely by
looking at small parts of the insect through a microscope. A better approach,
surely, would be to start with a view of the dragonfly as a whole, and to see
how the parts contribute to the systems that enable the creature to develop,
maintain its physical integrity, move about, and reproduce. In this perspective a
certain amount of detail, introduced judiciously, might well prove to be illustra-
tive and illuminating rather than tedious and baffling. So it is with language.
This leads us into the book itself, the purpose of which is to ask, and at-
tempt to answer, some “rather simple-looking questions”. Such as: What is
grammar? Why does it get so complicated? What are the different ways in
which the world’s languages exploit it? etc. These questions are then dealt
with by the author in eight succinct chapters in Section 1 Survey. In Section
2 Readings, comparable questions are raised in selected texts drawn from
works by, for instance, David Crystal, Bertrand Russell, Noam Chomsky,
John McWhorter, and others. Section 3 References provides a valuable guide
to recommended further reading, with the author’s indication of level of diffi-
culty. The book concludes with Section 4 Glossary, containing brief explana-
tions of frequently used terms, e.g. determiner, discourse marker, modifier, pe-
ripheral grammar, etc.
This might sound like a “weighty torne”. Far from it - the book is a com-
pact 130 pages, the distillation of the author’s considerable experience and
proof of his much-valued ability to explain even the most complex matters in
plain language, with a judicious choice of examples. The scope of the book can
be clearly seen from the chapter headings in Section 1 Survey:
1 What Is Grammar?, 2 From simplicity to complexity: word classes and
structures , 3 Grammar in the world’s languages, 4 Grammar and vocabulary, 5
Grammar in spoken and written text, 6 Grammar and language change, 7 Gram¬
mar in society: “correctness” and standardization, 8 Grammar in the head.
As a starting point for his enquiry into the question of What is grammar?
(“the kind of question that seems easy to answer until someone asks it”), the
author suggests that: “The best way to understand grammar, what it does and
why it is necessary, is in fact to trv to imagine language without it”. He then
goes on to show, by reference to several languages - including Russian, Latin
230 MOSTOVI • Volume 40, No. 1-2, Year 2006: pp. 229-232
......._.. . Grammar by Michael Swan
and Japanese - that the essential elements of (any) grammar are: ordering,
inflection and the use of function words.
This is followed by a stimulating chapter on the evolution and change of
language, in which he points to the importance of understanding the past in or-
der to appreciate the present State of language. “One of the factors contributing
to linguistic complexity is history. As languages develop, phonetic changes alter
and erode words ... The consequence is that ali languages have their grammati-
cal junk-rooms containing worn-out apparatus and old-fashioned tools that have
been replaced.” Yet, as he rightly notes, when the older linguistic signalling de-
vices are retained alongside new ones, communication is “more resistant to
breakdovvn” (p. 31).
As in Practical English Usage, so too in Grammar Michael Swan gives wel-
come prominence to the differences - especially in register - between the spo-
ken and the written language. He is also adept at spotting the potential causes
of errors and explaining how they (might) arise. For instance (p. 34): “Syntax,
as well as morphology, can be specific to a word. The English verb suggest can
be followed by an -ing form (“I suggest leaving now”) but not an infinitive (*“I
suggest to leave now”); the converse is true of expect. Rely needs a preposition
before an object (“I can rely on you”); trnst does not (“I can trust you”).” This
leads naturally on to a discussion of what he describes as selectional idioms, i.e.
the wording we instinctively or conventionally prefer to express meanings.
“There are many possible options, for example, for apologizing in English
for keeping somebody waiting. We could perfectly well say “Em sorry I made
you wait”; “Forgive me for the delay”. But it happens that we normally say
“(Em) sorry to keep you waiting”; this expression is a part of idiomatic English
in a way that the others are not. Selectional idioms of this kind occur in ali lan¬
guages, and they cause serious problems for those foreign learners who aim to
approach native-speaker competence. Such learners not only have to know the
grammar and vocabulary of the language they are studying, but also a whole in¬
ventar of preferred formulae corresponding to the most common recurrent
meanings and situations.” (p.37)
Comparable matters are further dealt with, from a slightly different perspec-
tive, in ch. 7 Grammar and society, which covers standard language, dialect
forms, descriptive and prescriptive rules, and alternative usage. A thought-provo-
king introduction on “What do we mean by incorrectT' - what is a mistake? -
leads on to an examination of rules as opposed to usage. Why, for instance, are
contractions (I’ve, don’t, etc.) freely used in speech, yet rarely in formal writing?
Can they be used in a singular sense? To this the author responds with vigour:
“An equally invalid prescriptive rule (to the one condemning the split in¬
finitive) condemns singular they/them/their (as in “If somebody phones, teli
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Alan McConnell - Duff
them I’m out”) on the spurious logical grounds that they is plural. This is sim-
ply inaccurate. They (like you) has a singular as well as plural function: it has
been used for centuries for singular indefinite reference, and an accurate ac-
count of English grammar must take note of this.” (p. 67)
The book concludes with a selection of brief (not more than one page)
texts for further reading, to which the author adds his own discussion questions.
To take just one example, a text by Bertrand Russell (Text 4, p. 85): Text - “The
proposition “Socrates is a man” is no doubt equivalent to “Socrates is human”,
but it is not the very same proposition. The “is” of Socrates is human expresses
the relation of subject and predicate; the “is” of “Socrates is a man” expresses
identity. Authors questions: • Do you agree that “is” has different functions in
“Socrates is a man” and “Socrates is human”? Do you know a language which
has different equivalents of English “is”, depending on the exact meaning?
In his Preface to Grammar, Henry Widdowson provides a succinct explana-
tion of the purpose of this series:
“What justification might there be for a series of introductions to language
study? After ali, linguistics is already well served with introductory texts: exposi-
tions and explanations which are comprehensive, authoritative, and excellent in
their way. Generally speaking, hovvever, their way is the essentially academic
one of providing a detailed initiation into the discipline of linguistics, and they
tend to be lengthy and technical (my emphasis): appropriately so, given their
purpose. But they can be quite daunting to the novice. ...these surveys are writ-
ten in the belief that there must be an alternative to a technical account on the
one hand and an idiot’s guide on the other if linguistics is to be made relevant
to people in the wider world.”
Michael Swan’s book majestically meets ali these criteria. It certainly is
not “lengthy and technical”, yet it does not take short-cuts or speak down to
the reader. Quite the contrary, it offers the reader a concise - never pompous,
always engaging - explanation of what he describes as the “endlessly fascinating
subject of grammar”. The reader will surely share his fascination, and also his
determination to examine not only what should be, but also what is:
“The best way to understand how a language works is surely to look at
how it works, not at how it used to work.”
Note: In addition to being an author, Michael Swan is also a translator. In 2005,
he was awarded the prestigious Stephen Spender Prize for a translation of the
German poet Rilke.
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