grammar vs. syntax

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Tugodum
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grammar vs. syntax

Post by Tugodum »

I've noticed that Dickey, when recommending paragraphs in Smyth, consistently refers to those dealing with inflections as "grammar readings," and to those dealing with word order as "syntax readings." I find this a bit surprising as generally in linguistics (as wells as at my elementary school) the term "grammar" is/was used to refer to all regularities in language, including syntactic ones, whereas what Dickey calls "grammar" is called "morphology" (as another part, on the par with syntax, of grammar in the just indicated sense). Is Dickey's way of using these terms common among classicists?

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rmedinap
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Re: grammar vs. syntax

Post by rmedinap »

I'm not sure it is used as a general rule. But in most of the methods and grammars I've seen (both old and new, and in German, Italian, Spanish and English) the sections or chapters concerning grammar focused on inflections and left all the matters regarding syntax unattended (there's usually an extra section or even an extra booklet or book dedicated just to syntax), so I can see why a few pupils or teachers would get caught up in the habit.

In fact even Kühner's Grammar is divided into "sections" one for the Formenlehre and another one for the Satzlehre. In German it is correct to make this distinction (both sections are still in the "grammar"), I believe this whole habit it's just another case of mistranslation of German concepts into English.

Tugodum
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Re: grammar vs. syntax

Post by Tugodum »

Thanks! I guess, "Formenlehre" is just a calque of the term "morphology," coined by August Schleicher.

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