Generative Grammar

Generative Grammar

'A Generative grammar is a system of analysis usually identified with linguistics. By its means a language can be viewed as a set of rules, finite in numbers that can produce sentences'

By Mukesh Sharma

Broadly speaking, a language is nothing but a group of sentences. If one is able to produce correct sentences, one is said to have learnt the language.

Since the main purpose of studying the Grammar is to learn to understand, write and speak standardized English, and common English grammar fails to teach this in totality, a need of generative grammar is felt.

The Oxford Advance Lerner’s Dictionary describes the term generative grammar as: “a grammar that describes a language by giving a set of rules which can be used to produce all the possible sentences in that language.”

The term generative grammar was first used by linguist Noam Chomsky in United States of America who developed the theory of generative grammar in 1957 – syntactic structures. Throwing light on the subject, Britannica Encyclopedia reveals:

“A generative grammar is a system of analysis usually identified with linguistics. By its means a language can be viewed as a set of rules, finite in number that can produce sentences.”

There was total disagreement among the linguists in accepting any of propagated theories of generative grammar which could be considered “as the best model for the generation of sentences as well as for the description of natural languages.” Moreover, no generative grammar has ever been written which might help the non-native speakers of English language to learn sentence-making without learning the English grammar in detail or doing any translation from mother tongue to English with the help of set rules of commonly used English grammar.

Why should you read this book?

This book of Generative Grammar for English Language is based on the concept of Root Elements. From 0 to 9, there are 10 digits. These 10 digits have given birth to infinite numbers. Seven suras are the basis of all the musical notes ever developed by man. According to Hindu philosophy, all this material world – animate or inanimate, is made up of five Root Elements – Earth, Fire, Air, Water and space. Such parent element can be termed as Root Elements. There can be innumerable superficial and seemingly distinctive probabilities born out of Root Elements. This is applicable to language too. With the help of Root Sentences, one can learn to generate sentences without the hassle of grammar or without doing any translation. One can enjoy the unique experience of sentence-making using root sentences, which are mostly common to all the languages. One can’t think beyond these Root Sentences. The knowledge of Root sentences helps you to generate hundreds of sentences rather playfully on any object or person. The unique features of this book are as follows:

1.     It seeks to help students who wish to learn English as their second language, and want to learn sentence-making without any translation from mother tongue to English or without learning the common English grammar in detail.

2.      It helps you to think directly in English.

3.      It helps you to develop thoughts.

4.      It seeks to help you to write/speak 500 words on any object/person extempore.

5.      It helps you to know traditional grammar without learning it.

Author, sincerely believes that a determined and diligent English language aspirant would find this book worth-reading. Author is confident that the esteemed readers would realize that the book has potential to change the concept of English learning.

The book, a bestseller, is available on Amazon.in. Very soon, it will available as e- book too.

English, as the most Corrupted language in the world

English, as the most Corrupted language in the world

A research work that seeks to unearth the truth about the parentage, birth, development and ensuing natural death of English language which is the most powerful, the most sought-after and the most loved international language today

By Mukesh Sharma

It won’t be wrong to say that English language is analogous to the status of a woman in human society. A woman gets her surname from her husband after marriage. She is known by that surname in the society. Her children carry the surname to the next generation. More or less English has also met the same fate.

People of different tongues have adopted English language. They have moulded it according to their own conveniences and comforts. And that is not all, they have individualized it and have given it their own names.

Consequently, with over 18 variations, scores of dialects, creoles and pidgins, English stands as the most corrupted language in the world. Scholars describe its different ‘varieties’ with portmanteau words such as Hinglish, Singlish, etc.

This blogger and author sincerely believes that the valued readers/students would find the book very interesting  and worth-reading.

 The book, a bestseller, is available on Amazon.in. Very soon, the book would also be available as e-book.

Of English Language Comprehension

Of English Language Comprehension

Linguistically speaking, the question asked in exams based on heard or written speech is a test of practical understanding of English language – how quickly one grasps and how correctly one answers

By Mukesh Sharma

Be it academic or competitive exams for various government services in India, the question on comprehension is very common and compulsory. It is a test to assess the understanding of the students regarding English language; it is a test of quick grasping of the subject matter discussed; it is a test of vocabulary; it is a test of syntax; it is a test of knowledge of grammatical rules; it is a test of self-expression.

Of English Language Comprehension

Broadly speaking, comprehension is an exercise that trains students to understand a language, and it also tests the understanding of the students regarding a language. It can be divided into two categories:

1. Listening Comprehension

2. Reading Comprehension 

Listening Comprehension (LC)

It is a test of the ability of the students to grasp the message quickly when it is read out to him/her, and answer the questions set out on the message. Usually, when something is read out in native tongue, one grasps it in no time. For instance, a native speaker of Hindi can understand a Hindi song even with varied pitch, beat or tone. But when it comes to second language (English), he/she faces problem in understanding even the simple words because of unacquainted pronunciation and the problem becomes serious when a native speaker of English speaks. Hindi speaking people are not able to understand English songs completely without the written lyrics – the root cause of the problem is accent. However, English is such a language that has many variations – American English, British English, Canadian English, Australian English, Indian English, etc. It won’t be wrong to say that there is no standardized pronunciation of a particular word in English or there is no standardization accent. What is more, each variation is governed by its own grammar. For instance, American English doesn’t use ‘helping verbs’ like ‘does’, ‘shall’, etc.:

He don’t like it (AE)

He doesn’t like it (BE)

I shall attend party (BE)

I will attend party (AE)

Furthermore, Bill Bryson, an American journalist and the author of The Mother Tongue says:

There are over 4000 words which have common spellings; same pronunciation, but different meanings in both the countries – America and Britain.

For instance, the word ‘fanny’ means buttock (in AE) and Vagina (in BE), ‘knock up’ means get pregnant (in AE) and wake up call (in BE) etc. Surprisingly enough, American English sounds different even to native speaker of English from Britain. A great litterateur G.B. Shaw makes a Ironic comment:

US and UK are the two countries divided by the common language

In fact, the listening comprehension (LC) depends on how one recognizes a word through the sound of its pronunciation as one recognizes one’s near and dear by the distinctive sound of their voice. So a non- native of speaker must listen to native speaker of English to get himself/herself used to the distinctive sound of pronunciation of the words, and that leads to understanding of the accent too. As far as English language is concerned, a non-native speaker of English must watch CNN, BBC, and other English programme including movies. Very recently, a video grab of a 12 year old Haryana (India) girl went viral where she was shown speaking English with American and British accent. When she was asked how she learnt it, she said: “I have picked it up by listening and studying the accent of native speakers of English."

Furthermore, the test of listening comprehension (LC) is also one of the compulsory questions in IELTS (International English language Testing System) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign language) where the students who wish to study abroad or in some foreign university in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom (England, Welsh, Ireland & Scotland), and USA, are made to listen a recorded speech, and they are asked to answer the questions based on heard speech. In IELTS, the recorded speech may be played in one of different accents e.g. American, British, Canadian, etc., while in TOEFL, it is American accent only.

Reading Comprehension

How one comprehends a written text in English. Linguistically speaking, the question on written text or unseen passage in the exams, is a test of practical understanding of English language- how quickly one grasps and how correctly one answers the question based on that. It depends on one’s ability to recognize the words through their distinctive shape as one is able to recognize his/her very close acquaintances by their body shape and gait even from some distance in the dark. In the mind of well-read man, a discernible shape of each written word is stored in the form of a picture. Just a cursory glance of a particular written word makes the shape of the word complete in the mind. This is how a trained and qualified chemist is able to read even an scribbled prescription of a doctor. Thus such pictorial memory of the mind, makes one read the written text faster than an ordinary reader. So, to pass out the test of reading comprehension one must develop good reading habit. Read as much as one can the different material on variety of subjects. With the practice, one can increase the speed of reading a book up to 60 pages per hour. Of course, it takes time to develop the pictorial memory.

In common parlance, the question on reading comprehension in exams is also known as question on unseen passage. It is common in most of the competitive exams for government services in India, particularly, in Banks Probationary Officers including IELTS and TOEFL. The students with poor English find the question rather challenging. The common complaint is that the passage was very tough; English was very difficult; students were not able to catch even main idea. Majority of students with poor knowledge of English, also find the question time- consuming. Though there is no format, and no rote-learning works, here this blogger seeks to suggest the easiest way to attempt the question successfully even with not-so-good English:

1^st step

Read the passage as quickly as possible so as to grasp the main idea, read for the message not for sentences or words.

2^nd step

Read the questions set on the passage one by one.

3^rd step

Re-read the passage carefully and underline the sentences/words that may be related directly or indirectly to given questions.

4^th step

Read questions once again

5^th step

Re-read the passage and look at the marked/underlined sentences/words, carefully.

6^th step

Start answering the question in your own words based on underlined sentences in the passage; no patch work.

Mind you, only a well-read student would be comfortable  in answering the question on unseen passage. However, good reading-habit and good practice can improve the reading comprehension. Nothing is difficult, if one is determined to do it – an attempt always paves the way to solution of a problem.

English, Great, Great. . . . Grand Daughter of Sanskrit

English, a Great, Great. . . .

Grand Daughter of Sanskrit

We, Indians don’t treat English as a foreign language; it is our language; Hindi and English are two sisters who can’t part from each other.

By Mukesh Sharma

Once Hindi and English were sitting together in the waiting– lounge of Indra Gandhi International Airport, waiting for their flight to Frankfurt (Germany).This blogger was also sitting next to them. All of a sudden, a verbal ‘flight’ broke out between two hon’ble ladies. Here are the excerpts from that interesting and knowledgeable ‘spat’ for the valued readers:

English: Is wearing Sari  comfortable? Doesn't  it look savage in the modern world?

Hindi: Sari is not savage. Covering from head to toe, sari beautifies the woman body; it not only makes her attractive but also respectable in society.

English: what do you mean? Am I not respectable?

Hindi: I am sorry if my words have offended you. I didn’t mean that. Just think, you would realize Sari suits the female body not tight-fit jeans. You see there is scientific reason behind each custom/tradition in India. Ancient India was fully developed and civilized at a time when the rest of the world was rather non-existent or savage.The  Rig-Veda was composed 5000 years ago; Charak Sahimta’s tenets  are still valid; pandit would tell about solar or lunar eclipse just by sheer calculation in ancient India. There are scores of examples of pristine glory of India. Better, you read the book Discovery of India  by Jawahar Lal Nehru, our first PM, very well acknowledged and acclaimed by the  western world.

English:  That’s great! But self praise is no recommendation.

Hindi: These are hard facts authenticated by the research works and findings by Western scholars. Can you believe the most of the European language are genetically related to Sanskrit which is the parent language. In other words, you are also a great, great . . . . grand daughter of Sanskrit. And I am also a daughter of Sanskrit. In this way, you are my sister.

English: Oh my gosh! You Indian are second to none in making tall talks and tall claim. Do you know, we, the Britisher, ruled over India for 200 years; the sun wouldn’t set in, in our British empire as we had humbled the most part of the world from East to West.

Hindi: The Britisher were not a superior race. If you wish to know the truth, read the eye opener book entitled Bharat Me British Raj’ by Sunderlal which was banned when brought out during British regime.

English: You are talking nonsense. I can’t believe your cock and bull story.

Hindi: But truth is truth. You must accept the truth, my dear sister.

English: Ok, tell me the whole story today.

Hindi: It is historical fact that the Britisher were slaves of the Roman for 400 years. They used to speak Celtic. English was not their mother tongue.

English: I can’t believe! But go on, tell me entire story about myself.

Hindi: My darling sister, I don’t mean any disrespect to you. But one must respect the truth.

English: Ok, go ahead!

Hindi: Contrary to common perception, the original native speaker of English were Angles & Saxons; they were Germanic people; they were savage and they belonged to warrior class. In 450 A.D., when the great Roman empire had become weak, Angles & Saxons captured a part of land which was under the subjugation of the Roman; they named that part of land as ‘Anglaland’, just after their name, and their language was known as ‘Anglisc’ or ‘Englisc’; later ‘Anglaland’ became England and ‘Anglisc’ became English. In fact, English was the language of the savage or warrior class.  Angles & Saxons would have never thought even in their wildest dream that one day their mother tongue would become an International language.

Angles & Saxons

English: Unbelievable! But you continue.

Hindi: English is not a language but it is a cocktail of languages. It has borrowed words from almost all the languages of the world as the English were seafarer; they would visit many countries for business reasons and would also adopt the words from the native language of that country. That is why English is also called a  piratical language. With 18 variations of English across the world, it stands as the most corrupted language in the world today e.g. American English, British English, Canadian English, and so on.

English: Interesting!

Hindi: If you get back to 5000 years ago, you would discover that the most of European languages are genetically related to Sanskrit; it is respected as a parent language; even Britannica encyclopaedia endorses this fact depicting the tree of Indo-European family; even western scholars admit this fact. One of Indian scholars has also drawn a diagram showing the origin of different languages from one parent language Sanskrit. You will have fair idea about the origin or birth of English.

English: Grunts!

Hindi: You see, we all Indians get, genetically, attracted towards English; we love English; we respect English; even Art 348 of our Constitution says English shall be the official language in High Court and Supreme Court. To Indians, English is not simply a language but a cohesive force that keeps the multilingual Indian society together from Kanya Kumari to Kashmir. We, Indians don’t treat English as a foreign language; it is our language; Hindi and English are two sisters who can’t part from each other.

English: Thanks for showing me the mirror, my darling sister, Hindi.

Hindi: Come on give me a hug.Here is a  gift of Sari for you  -  from an elder sister to a younger sister. Please accept it.

English:  So nice of you my respected Didi. I have no words to say thanks to you. You also accept the gift of this jeans which I purchased for myself.

English, Incomprehensible Like a woman

Humour

English, Incomprehensible Like a Woman

Her moist juicy lips with cryptic smile superseding the smile of Monalisa of Leonardo De Vinci; the bulging bolstering breast that can make even a devout Muslim a pagan; well carved out waist surpassing the skill of Michel Angelo; her swing and swagger overtaking the beats of Beethoven

By Mukesh Sharma

Of course, it is a flabby fact! To majority of English aspirants learning English as a second language, particularly, from Hindi heartland, the most coveted English is like the inscrutable and incomprehensible legendary Menaka seducing rishi Vishwamitra. The naive so-called the lovers of English fall in love with the seemingly sleek and slim English at the very first gaze. But the gloating love remains unrequited, for, English wards off their all the overtures and advances ruthlessly. And like the jilted lover, the hapless lots continue to hold torch for the coquettish English until their last breath.

The spurned and obsessed lovers first try to understand the ‘anatomy’ of English – the curves and contour; her flowing auburn hair; glowing face with attractive mien and arresting eyes; her moist juicy lips with cryptic smile superseding the smile of Monalisa of Leonardo De Vinci; the bulging bolstering breast that can make even a devout Muslim a pagan; well carved out waist surpassing the skill of Michel Angelo; her swing and swagger overtaking the beats of Beethoven; the hallowed navel, an epicentre of attraction making a bystander imagine that the heaven is not far off; even to a casual onlooker, English appears like living mannequin of erotica.

The majority of so called ‘language trainers’ claim that the thorough knowledge of grammatical rules ‑ noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection coupled with understanding of tenses - present indefinite .... modals.... can bring an English aspirant close to English. But all this turn out to be the tall claims of Indian netas. However, western scholars contend that English grammar is wanting. It may help to woo but not win the heart of English. The well known English writer Thomas Carlyle goes a step further and says: “Best grammarian are the worst writer and the best writers are the worst grammarian.”

Interestingly enough, English aspirants are legion. They are ready to pay any fee. English speaking course is a flourishing business with collective turnover of crores of rupees in India. What is more, in the most of competitive exams for government services conducted by SSC, UPSC, etc , English paper is mandatory. Sheer nodding acquaintances with English don’t work. Irrespective of all the affirmations, English is the unassailable language of elitist class and ruling class. Article 348 of the Indian Constitution clearly states that English shall be the official language in High Courts and Supreme Court. So the respected mother tongue remains at the mercy of English.

Further, to take advantage of the psyche of dejected aspirants, some self styled ‘teachers’ have even shunned their Indian names and have ‘baptised’ themselves with English sounding names without any ‘Church service’ so that they can pass them off as a ‘next of kin’ of English, and draw and fool the flock. It is a common sight in well known hub of coaching centres at Mukherjee Nagar, North Delhi. “It is a mandi of English”, says a local property dealer ironically. The most of the such so called English gurus claim to be the great grammarian having so phenomenal knowledge of English that they can find mistakes even in English of Shakespeare and Wordsworth. Amusingly and seemingly being blissfully ignorant of the stature of the word ‘Sir’, these ‘gurus’ suffix their names with ‘Sir’.

Among the Indian, the attraction of English is more than the gravitational pull of Jupiter. To them, it is the symbol of status; symbol of class; symbol of intellect. Hon’ble MP Shashi Tharoor mesmerises the ‘crowd’ with his flowery English and accent. Over the years, Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami has carved out a niche in the hearts of the ‘herd’ with his bold and bullish English.

Despite all English gurus there is a sizable number of students who are not able to either understand or know the ‘custom’ of ‘English’, and such people turn ‘misogynist’- hater of English. She is allegedly rated as a woman of loose morals. Such people argue that the rampant flirtation of English has led to several illegitimate progeny - American English, British English, Canadian English, Welsh English, Irish English, Indian English etc. Some self proclaimed linguists maintain that though genetically related to Sanskrit, English has made off with words from almost all the languages and stands as the most corrupted. Even celebrated Anglo Irish satirist and author of Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift also endorses the view. And the latest jibe against English has been made by none other than the Hon’ble Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu: “English is like an illness left behind by the British.”

Anyway, in the light of all these inconclusive never ending squabble, the much sought after love-lady English remains incomprehensive despite all the clash and crush.