Page images
PDF
EPUB

m the grammatical systems of several Eastern languages, for example, who can neither speak, write, nor even read them. But, admitting, for a moment, the correctness of the common definition of grammar, and its applicability to a foreign tongue proposed to be learned, it must be at once conceded that, consistently with this definition, the use of grammar is confined to these two branches-Speaking and Writing-(and with a view to their attainment alone are all particular grammars written); it cannot be of much assistance towards understanding the language either of men or books. The latter twofold acquirement, attainable even by the youngest child and by a person of the meanest capacity, is the result of mere practice, and is independent of rules. Thus, in the native tongue, although grammar proves very useful for attaining correctness in speaking and writing, it is never contemplated as a means of understanding what is spoken and written. And since the arts of reading and hearing are, as we have seen, the first things to be learned in a foreign language, it necessarily follows that grammar, affording no assistance in learning these arts, is supererogatory at the entrance upon the study.

The observations which we have just made are borne out by the highest authorities; for, since the earliest time to the present, efforts have been made by the most eminent scholars and grammarians themselves to oppose the gradual encroachment of grammɑin schools. Dean Colet, in his address to the masters of St. Paul's school, of which he was the founder, impresses on them the propriety of explaining the classic authors to their pupils in preference to teaching them the grammar. His friends, Cardinal Wolsey and Erasmus, entirely coincided with him in opinion, as may be seen in a letter of the former to the masters of Ipswich school, and in the Ecclesiastes and other works of the latter. After them Roger Ascham, whose whole life was devoted to education, protested against grammar being made an elementary study. In alluding to the double translation, of which we shall treat hereafter, he observes; "This is a lively and perfect way of teaching of rules, whereas the common way used in common schools to read the gram. mar alone by itself is tedious for the master, hard for the scholar, cold and uncomfortable for them both."*

A few detached thoughts from Locke will show that this great philosopher also deprecated the use of grammar as an introduction to the study of a foreign language. "I would fain," he says, "have any one name to me that tongue that any one can learn, or speak as he should do, by the rules of grammar "...." If grammar ought to be taught at any time, it must be to one that can speak the language already "...." Nobody is made any thing by hearing of rules or laying them up in his memory; practice must settle the habit of doing without reflecting on the rule.". ."The knowledge a gentleman would ordinarily draw for his use out of the Roman and Greek writers, I think he may attain without studying the grammars of those tongues; and by bare reading may come to understand them sufficiently for all his purposes.". "I know not why any one should waste his time and beat his head about the Latin grammar, who does not intend to be a critic, or make speeches, or write despatches in the Latin language." +

Nothing, indeed, is more absurd than to fatigue the student by loading his memory with the rules of a language which he does not yet understand; they are of no use to him if he has it not in his power to apply them. "The rules of grammar," says Tal.eyrand, "which are results demonstrated for him who is already acquainted with anguages, and who has meditated on them, cannot, in any way, be the means of knowing them for him who is not acquainted with them. They are consequences; we cannot, without doing violence to reason, present them as principles."‡

*The Schoolmaster.

+ Thoughts on Education, and Essay on the Conduct of the IIuman Mind,
Rapport sur l'Instruction Publique.

Let us now consider the art of grammar more especially as an auxiliary tc speaking and writing. We have already admitted its usefulness towards acquiring these two branches; but the study of it should be simultaneous with, not previous to, their acquisition it will be the more profitable as the learner is a greater proficient in reading and hearing. The essential object of grammar is to teach, within certain limits, how to use correctly a language already practically known,—not how to speak or write one which is not known. In a foreign language the rules of syntax are as ineffective an introduction to a correct and graceful expression, as the rules of orthoëpy to a pure and pleasing pronunciation. In either, nothing can supply the place of good models.

The art of language being founded on imitation, the capability of practising it must be obtained by a process analogous to that by which all imitative arts are acquired. Although every art is based on scientific principles, and can be reduced to rules, the collection of which constitutes its theory, yet the knowledge of these principles and rules is not the means through which it can be mastered, nor is it the main object of the practitioner. In every art great powers of execution are independent of theory.

We admit that the theory may greatly assist the practice; but it is only at an advanced stage, when the learner is already familiarized with the practical elements of the art; and, even then, it is not absolutely necessary for attaining skill in applying that art; many of those which are now in existence had risen to a high degree of excellence, before science explained the laws by which they were governed. From the epic poems of Homer, composed long before Aristotle wrote on the art of epic poetry, down to the steam-engine, which had exhibited its wonderful powers on sea and land before scientific treatises explained its mechanism, practice in all the arts preceded theory.

"The practice," says Archbishop Whately, "not only may exist independently of the theory, but must have preceded it."* As logic does not enable one to reason, who is not previously endowed with the power of reasoning, so grammar does not teach to speak; it can only assist those who already speak. We can no more learn to speak by the rules of grammar, than we can learn to walk by the laws of equilibrium. It is as irrational to make grammar the starting point in learning to speak or write a language," as it would be to impose on a child the study of perspective and the theory of colors as the preliminary step to learning the art of painting. Language may, in more than one respect, be assimilated to painting. In both, rules are unavailable before having made some progress in the practice; in both, he who wishes to excel must have long confined himself to the imitation of good n:odels, and to the study of the great masters, before he ventures to trust to his judgment and imagination in the execution of original composition.

The causes which have led to the use of words, to their pronunciation, orthography, inflections, and arrangements, are so numerous and so diversified, that extreme irregularity prevails throughout language. If we wish to submit its numberless forms to rules, as an assistance in speaking, these will be so multiplied, that it will be by far more difficult to retain them all than the whole language itself. Few persons can think of rules when in the act of speaking; attention is then absorbed in the subject of discourse, and the memory is engaged in selecting the words which may suit the ideas. If the speaker is in possession of abundant materials, the thought has been no sooner conceived than its adequate expression is formed by analogy, and the tongue gives it life without the remotest attention to grammatical considerations.

The national language of every country is acquired with extreme facility. Children, at the age of five or six, talk fluently, without having heard of rules, without even dreaming that speech is capable of being decomposed into words and letters. They

*Elements of Logic.

begin to study the principles of their own language when they are already in possession of the practical part. Many persons, indeed, could be found, who express themselves correctly without having learned grammar at all, and who, if they were told that they speak according to syntax, would be as much astonished as Molière's Bourgeois-gentilhomme, who, when informed that he spoke in prose, acknowledged that, until then, he had never been aware of it.

So varied and multiplied are the forms of a language, that, however comprehensive a work on grammar may be, it will always leave innumerable expressions without rules for their construction. The art of grammar adds little to the learner's vocabulary; and yet an extensive stock of words is the most indispensable acquisition for good speaking or good writing; because, without copiousness of language, there is no possibility of Buiting expressions to ideas in the diversified circumstances of intellectual communication. It tells neither the pronounciation nor the orthography, which are equally indispensable for speaking or writing correctly. It affords but little assistance in ascertaining the innumerable instances in which languages differ in the application of apparently corresponding words, in the use of prepositions, the tenses and moods of verbs, or in the mode of supplying ellipses and the deficiencies of a language. It teaches not the propriety of metaphors, the euphony of vocal arrangement, the idiomatic forms of speech, the various acceptations of words, the different shades of meaning which characterize the terms called synonymous; in fine, none of those niceties of expression, which constitute the genius, force, and elegance, of a language, and which can be acquired only through an extensive and critical reading of standard works.

Grammar assists so little in freeing the expression of thought from inaccuracy, obscurity, and nonsense, that a composition may be stricty grammatical and, withal, replete with incongruities of all sorts,-bad spelling, inappropriate terms, inelegancies, alliterations, pleonasms, barbarisms, awkward constructions, unsuitable figures, illogical deductions. This truth is forcibly illustrated by those who, in learning a foreign language, have attended to grammatical principles and exercises more than to good models; they often express themselves most incorrectly and ludicrously in that language, although they may not violate a single rule of grammar. They are apt to utter their errors with laughable confidence, and sometimes pertinaciously adhere to them, under the conviction that they speak grammatically. But, "to speak grammatically," says Quintilian, "is one thing, to speak Latin is another."* If, then, grammar contributes comparatively so little to perspicuity and accuracy of expression, to elegance and purity of style, to soundness and connection of ideas, is it not absurd to call it, "THE art of speaking and writing correctly," and to make it the sole preparation for acquiring these two departments of language?

The common definition of grammar was correct for the ancients, who included under that name all the departments of the arts of speaking and writing; but, confined as it now is to Accidence, which treats of the nature and inflections of words, and to Syntax, which furnishes rules for their arrangement and concord, it is only one of the many elements of good speaking and good writing. Among the other elements may be mentioned Lexicography, which records the signification and orthography of words; Etymology, which treats of their composition and derivation; Orthoepy, which estab⚫ lishes their right pronunciation; Prosody, which teaches the accent and quantity of syllables, and the measure of verse; Synonymy, which exhibits the shades of difference between words of apparently similar meaning; Rhetoric, which explains figurative forms and the principles of style; Logic, which shows the relation and dependence of the ideas expressed. A grammar affords ro means of mastering these various depart

*"Aliud est grammaticè, eliud latine loqui."—Inst. Orat., Lib. I., Cap. vii.

ments of composition; it cannot, of itself, any more than a dictionary, for example constitute the art of speaking and writing correctly. If any such art exist, it ought to devolve on all these departments of language collectively, not on one of them exclus sively. However, it is impossible to subject completely the expression of ideas to general and fixed laws: custom will always, in defiance of rule and reason, introduce in language innumerable idiomatic and irregular forms, which are nevertheless perfectly correct.

There are few prejudices more universal and more deeply rooted than that of thinking that it is impossible to learn foreign languages at home otherwise than by the rules of grammar. A foreign language ought undoubtedly to be known grammatically; but this does not mean that it should be learned through grammar; it means that it should be spoken and written conformably to the practice of the best speakers and writers. If we reflect that grammarians do not impose laws on language, but only state, within certain limits, what is the common usage among those who speak and write well, it will be obvious that the readiest and most direct way of ascertaining this usage is to frequent the society of well-educated people, and study the best writers. Thus shall we learn from them, as the grammarians themselves have done, what constitutes good speaking and good writing; for let it well be considered that correct language is more effectually acquired from good models than from treatises on the art of writing, as polite manners are more effectually secured from good society than from precepts on good breeding.

But if grammar, considered as an introductory study, is, as we have endeavored to prove, both inefficient and perplexing, it cannot be denied that as a means of mental culture at an advanced stage, it is highly important and interesting. It forms the mind to habits of order and clearness; concurrently with logic and rhetoric, it accustoms learners to accuracy of language, and hence, to accuracy of thinking; by enabling them to account for the correctness of their expressions, it gives them more confidence in speaking and writing; and, by generalizing the insulated facts of language, it renders their knowledge of it more extensive and permanent. A thorough grammarian sees analogy where others see only accident; he avoids errors not by blind habit, but by principle. In fact, grammar is the indispensable completion of the study of language; it unites and strengthens its several parts into a harmonious whole; secures its stability, beauty, and symmetry. No one can be said to possess an intelligent, profound, and critical knowledge of a language, unless he has generalized its particulars and ascertained the principles on which they rest.

If, then, grammar does not of itself constitute the art of speaking and writing correctly, it contributes largely to this double object. It is too important a branch of literary instruction to be exposed to the risk of not being understood by our imposing it prematurely on children and on seginners. It must be studied, but studied at a proper season and in the proper way then it will prove useful to learners; for if prac tice in the arts precedes theory, theory in its turn improves the arts.

The office of grammar is to determine the relations which the constituent parts of speech bear to each other in significant combinations. On a knowledge of the combinations rests the power of inferring the relations of the parts. Particular grammar is an inductive art, as general grammar is an inductive science; and in all such arts or sciences we arrive at general principles by inference from facts: the more numerous these are, the more easily and the more certainly are the principles ascertained. The student, ambitious to master the grammar of a language, should first diligently collect facts, examine them in all their bearings, and compare them with each other; he may afterwards sum up the result of his investigations. It is only after a careful analysis of facts that we can generalize and classify them.

If, for instance, a number of individual expressions be presented, in which the same peculiarity of arrangement prevails, any young person of ordinary capacity will be struck by the resemblance, will readily imitate that peculiarity of arrangement when required to construct other sentences of the same sort, and will easily of himself infer the rule which governs them all. This analytical mode of studying grammar, similar to the intellectual process by which we arrive at a knowledge of the natural laws, is the most rational and the most favorable to mental discipline: it consists in observing facts, comparing them, remarking their resemblances and differences, and afterwards bringing into the same class all similar facts. Those which may be generalized constitute the rules, and those which are not comprised within any class form the exceptions. Thus observation, comparison, and generalization, are the essential means of arriving at the knowledge of a particular grammar. It is by this inductive process that all grammars have been made.

Beneficial, however, as it may be for a learner to observe by himself, he should not be refused the instruments which may help him in his observations. It is not enough that, in reading and analyzing authors, he should infer the rules of composition by induction from the phraseology; this random way of acquiring the grammatical principles of the language would never give him a complete and systematic knowledge of them; a methodical treatise on the subject is indispensable, if he wish to have a comprehensive view of the theory of a language. A few months of assiduous study of a good grammar, after sufficient practice in inferring the rules from the written page, would tend to generalize, connect, and complete the scattered notions of grammar acquired by induction in reading foreign authors.

Pursued in this way, the study of grammar will prove eminently beneficial by bringing into activity all the faculties of the mind; and, although it does not necessarily imply the power of reaching the standard of the great models, it furnishes the student with the means of entering into the secret of composition, of exploring the mysterious law of creative genius, and of comparing its productions with the rules of composition. Thus he will learn how to follow with success the steps of the great masters, when his turn comes for literary labors. But, should the learner not carry his views so high, still this course of serious studies will not be fruitless it will enable him to examine liter. ary works more minutely, and will render their perusal more profitable and interest. ing; it will make him distinguish what constitutes elegance and vulgarity, clearness and obscurity of style, and will thus enable him to discern and appreciate the merit of literary compositions; it will tend to prevent that blind and implicit veneration which too often causes people to confound in their admiration what is good and bad in the style of celebrated writers. Should the rules of literary criticism produce no other result, save to guard against frivolous and false judgments, they would be a valuable acquisition.

This study, however, should not engage the attention to the exclusion of practice; for, without the means of applying the grammatical principles, these would be of very ittle avail. Let it be well considered that practice alone may lead to grammar, but grammar alone could never lead to practice.

The superiority of practice over theory sufficiently indicates the place which grammar ought to hold in a rational method, and justifies the observations which we have made on this subject. These observations are not altogether new; but, were they even so, they ought not, on that account, to be disregarded; for novelty does not prejudice a truth, nor does antiquity justify an error, or consecrate an absurdity.

Having laid down the great principles on which rest the teaching and learning of foreign languages, we will now expound the method by which this double object may be effectually attained.

« PreviousContinue »