What are prescriptive and descriptive grammar rules?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: What are prescriptive and descriptive grammar rules?

Option 0: 'Prescriptive grammar rules: the underlying rules of language structure that determine how a language works, like word order

Descriptive grammar rules: arbitrary rules that people are encouraged to follow in order to seem more educated, "correct," etc.'
This option swaps the standard meanings. Prescriptive rules are not the underlying structural rules they’re often informally taught as; descriptive rules are not the arbitrary judgments about correctness that prescriptivists promote. The wording here mislabels which type describes actual language use versus which prescribes how it should be used. The consequence is a confusing and inaccurate pairing.

Option 1: 'Prescriptive grammar rules: arbitrary rules that people are encouraged to follow in order to seem more educated, "correct," etc.

Descriptive grammar rules: the underlying rules of language structure that determine how a language works, like word order'

This option likewise reverses the conventional roles. Prescriptive rules are not simply arbitrary rules people follow to appear educated; they are normative guidelines about how language should be used. Descriptive rules are not merely arbitrary but refer to the learned, systematic structure of a language as it is actually used. The pairing here repeats the same misassignment as Option 0 and remains inaccurate.

Option 2: 'Prescriptive grammar rules: the use of Latin to improve and clarify English grammar, which used to be incoherent

Descriptive grammar rules: the rejection of Latin in favor of laissez-faire grammar and damaging the English language, emphasizing the spirit of American independence'

This option ties prescriptive/descriptive to historical practices with Latin, which is a historical example rather than a general definitional explanation. It misrepresents the broader concepts: prescriptive vs descriptive does not hinge on Latin specifically, and the descriptors about Latin versus laissez-faire usage are not canonical definitions of the two terms. The historical framing here leads to a misleading and overly narrow characterization.

Option 3: 'Prescriptive grammar rules: the rejection of Latin in favor of laissez-faire grammar and damaging the English language, emphasizing the spirit of American independence

Descriptive grammar rules: the use of Latin to improve and clarify English grammar, which used to be incoherent'

Similar to Option 2, this option anchors the terms to a particular historical stereotype rather than explaining the core distinction. The idea that prescriptive rules are a rejection of Latin or that descriptive rules promote Latin is not how these terms are defined in linguistics. It also implies value judgments about language change that are not part of the standard definitions, making it misleading and incorrect as a general statement.

Summary of analysis across options: All four choices misstate or misrepresent the core distinction between prescriptive and descriptive grammar. The central, widely taught definition is that prescriptive grammar prescribes how language should be used according to normative standards, while descriptive grammar describes how language is actually used, without judging it by those standards. The options fail to capture this essential contrast accurately, with each option either swapping the roles, introducing historical specifics as if they were definitional, or mixing value judgments that do not belong to the standard definitions.

ling_222_120251_246103 Week 4 Reading Quiz

What are prescriptive and descriptive grammar rules?

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