Changes in grammar and punctutation
Grammar:
Main differences to look for in the exam:
1) Use of primary verbs in their auxiliary function
2) Verb endings/inflections
3) Second person pronoun
4) Relative pronouns
5) Double negatives
6) Noun and adjective endings / inflections
7) Formation of plurals
8) Sentence structure
9) The use of propositions
To find out more about each difference, click here!
Why have these changes occurred?
The key ideas to discuss grammatical change include:
- The most dramatic changes happend before the end of the Middle Ages
- For the last 300 years, grammar has been relatively stable. However, grammatical change can and still does happen.
- In the 18th and 19th century, there were attempts to fix the rules of grammar making it more resistant to change than vocabulary and phonology.
Main differences to look for in the exam:
1) Use of primary verbs in their auxiliary function
2) Verb endings/inflections
3) Second person pronoun
4) Relative pronouns
5) Double negatives
6) Noun and adjective endings / inflections
7) Formation of plurals
8) Sentence structure
9) The use of propositions
To find out more about each difference, click here!
Why have these changes occurred?
The key ideas to discuss grammatical change include:
- The Economy Principle- This suggests that we shorten our discourse whenever we can to save time.
- Competition between grammatical forms with a similar purpose or meaning has mean that certain forms become obsolete or change their meaning.
E.g: ‘Fewer’ - ‘Less’