The history of grammar dates back to ancient Greece, as the language as well as other parts of the perceptible world became subject to scientific study. Analogue to the rebirth of other parts of ancient knowledge during the renaissance, grammar also re-appeared in the German and Swedish language areas. This master's thesis attempts to describe how the respective grammars progressed from the 17th century until present time, through an examination of representative written work from both language areas and historical periods. The results show both similarities, but also diversity. Predominant for the early part of the examination include language patriotism, the idea of language as existing independent from mankind and a normative tendency in the grammars. The German grammars of the 17th and 18th centuries also pursue national unity by the means of fixed language principles to a greater extent than in the more solid contemporary Swedish national state. A language-philosophical distinction appears in the 19th century, when German scholars argue that language defines the thought, where as the Swedish standpoint was the opposite. This divide remains in present-day grammars, which in this thesis are represented by the German Duden 4 – Grammatik and the Svenska Akademiens grammatik. Both modern grammars share an outspoken descriptive approach, but traces of a common, rule-based language to reduce regional and social differences are still present in the German grammar. The grammars put different weight on the various parts of the subject. The Duden includes phonology and assigns twice as much space for words than for syntax. The Swedish delimits itself to words and syntax, where the latter – including one entire volume on phrases, that the Duden completely omits – dominates the four books.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:du-37874 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Hård af Segerstad, Jonas |
| Publisher | Högskolan Dalarna, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och lärande |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | German |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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