Some languages have no grammar

Grammar of a language is the set of rules which the speakers of the language follow when they speak. In includes rules about possible forms of words, the way bits of words can be put together, rules about the way words are put together to make longer units, and rules about the way meanings are encoded by speakers. If a language has no grammar, it is impossible to make mistakes when speaking it; saying a sentence wrong is the same as saying it breaks a rule and if a language has rules it has grammar. If a language has no grammar, there could be no difference between nouns, verbs and other word classes. All known languages distinguish at least nouns and verbs. If a language has no grammar, there could be no rule for the placement of words in sentences. Every order would be possible, therefore the listener would not know what the speaker intends to say. A language with no rules for the placement of words could only be understandable if communication only exists of one-word messages. If a language has no grammar, it could not have prefixes or suffixes. If a language has words, it has rules for forming words, so it has grammar. If a language has no grammar, it could not have ‘little words’ to mark grammatical functions. For instance the conjunction and could be placed anywhere in the sentence and it would not be clear what words it joins. If a language has no grammar, it would not be possible to mark the differences between sentences by changing tune or intonation of the sentence. So it would not be possible to mark differences between statements, questions, commands etc. All known human languages make these differences (Bauer & Trudgill, 1998).

Some languages may have less grammar rules, others may have more complicated ones. But all languages certainly have grammar rules, otherwise people are not able to understand each other. 

By Lydia Nicolai

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