Traditional Grammar

doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02053-8

Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition)

2006, Pages 9-12

https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02053-8 Get rights and content

Traditional grammar denotes the study of grammar based on the parts of speech. It entered the curriculum in the West in ancient Greece as the first of the seven liberal arts and flourished until the 12th and 13th centuries when Aristotelian logic and scholastic disputation became dominant in higher education. The ensuing humanist reaction was based in part on the revitalization of grammar through text books that explained concepts in the students’ vernacular. The importance of grammar was next challenged in the 20th century by progressive educators and scientific linguists. The question of its educational importance is currently unresolved.

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David Mulroy is a professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he has taught since 1973. He is the author of three books of translations of classical poets, most recently, The complete poetry of Catullus (University of Wisconsin Press, 2002) and of The war against grammar (Heinemann Boynton/Cook, 2003).

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