The subject of Theoretical Grammar.

The term “phonetics” is derived from the Greek language. Phonetics is often defined as a branch of linguistics dealing with the phonetic structure of a language. It means that phonetics studies:

1) the sounds, their classification and distribution;

2) the syllabic structure of words, i.e. syllable formation and syllable division;

3) the accentual structure of words, its nature, place and degree;

4) the intonational structure of sentences.

Phonetics is concerned with the study of all the above mentioned components from different points of view, the most important of them being the functional one. As a branch of linguistics phonetics occupies a peculiar position. Though it is an independent science and develops according to its own laws, it is connected with a number of other linguistic and non-linguistic sciences. The linguistic sciences study the language from different viewpoints. Lexicology treats of the vocabulary of a language, of its origin, meaning and word-building. Grammar studies the structure of a language and the rules governing the combination of words into sentences. Stylistics means the study of style. The history of the language traces its historical development. Phonetics is connected with them because lexical, grammatical and other phenomena are expressed phonetically. They cannot exist outside phonetics. Phonetics is connected with grammar as it helps to pronounce correctly singular and plural forms of nouns, the past indefinite and the past participle forms of verbs and other endings, as in: pens, books, classes, asks – asked, lives – lived, Nick’s, teacher’s, etc.

It is connected with grammar also through sound interchange, as in: wife – wives, path – paths, house – houses, man – men, mouse – mice, tooth – teeth, etc. Grammar may be practical and theoretical. The aim of practical grammar is the description of grammar rules that are necessary to understand and formulate sentences. The aim of theoretical grammar is to offer explanation for these rules. Generally speaking, theoretical grammar deals with the language as a functional system. Theoretical grammar serves to describe the grammatical structure of the English language as a system where all parts are interconnected. The difference between theoretical and practical grammar lies in the fact that practical grammar prescribes certain rules of usage and teaches to speak (or write) correctly whereas theoretical grammar presents facts of language, while analyzing them, and gives no prescriptions. Unlike school grammar, theoretical grammar does not always produce a ready-made decision. In language there are a number of phenomena interpreted differently by different linguists. To a great extent, these differences are due to the fact that there exist various directions in linguistics, each having its own method of analysis and, therefore, its own approach to the matter. But sometimes these differences arise because some facts of language are difficult to analyze, and in this case the only thing to offer is a possible way to solve the problem, instead of giving a final solution. It is due to this circumstance that there are different theories of the same language phenomenon, which is not the case with practical grammar.