The Truth About English Grammar

Geoffrey K. Pullum 지음

Polity 2024년 06월 13일 출간 국내도서 : 2024년 09월 03일 출간

작품소개

책소개

Do you worry that your understanding of English grammar isn’t what it should be? It may not be your fault. For hundreds of years, vague and confused ideas about how to state the rules have been passed down from one generation to the next. The available books for the general reader thousands of them, shamelessly plagiarizing each other repeat the same misguided definitions and generalizations that appeared in the schoolbooks used by your great-great-grandparents.Geoffrey K. Pullum thinks you deserve better. In this book he breaks away from the tradition. Presupposing no prior knowledge or technical terms, he provides an informal introduction to the essential concepts underlying grammar and usage. With his foundation, you will be equipped to understand the classification of words, the structure of phrases and clauses, and why some supposed grammar rules are really just myths. Also covered are some of the key points about spelling, apostrophes, hyphens, capitalization, and punctuation.Illuminating, witty, and incisive, The Truth About English Grammar is a vital book for all who love writing, reading, and thinking about English.

목차

Preface Notation Guide 1 Introduction 2 Clauses, sentences, and phrases 3 Types of words 4 Types of clause 5 Nouns and their phrases 6 Determinatives 7 Verbs 8 Adjectives 9 Adverbs 10 Prepositions 11 Coordinators 12 Subordinators 13 Interjections 14 Content clauses 15 Tenseless subordinate clauses 16 Passive clauses 17 Relative clauses 18 Mythical grammar errors 19 Spelling and punctuation 20 Style Further Reading Glossary Index

출판사 서평

“Who isn’t curious about how English works? About how it conveys subtle shades of meaning, or delights us with good style, or flaunts both mathematical elegance and human quirkiness? Geoffrey K. Pullum is not just an erudite scientist of English but one of its best living writers. With clarity and verve, he explains a new understanding of the language which is more sensible and satisfying than the traditional folklore most of us were taught.”Steven Pinker, Harvard University, author of The Language Instinct and The Sense of Style“The Truth will set you free from the tangled web of traditional misinformation and superstition. Geoffrey K. Pullum's book transported this language nerd back to English class, this time for the pleasure of learning a grammar system that makes sense.”Jan Freeman, former Boston Globe language columnist“Geoffrey K. Pullum may be iconoclastic, but he's also sensible and companionable here. He's boiled down years of study into this edifying and entertaining treatment of grammar. Whoever you may be, whatever your background, you'll search in vain for a page in this book that doesn't teach you something. I'm sure he was joshing when he said to me, about the time he was completing the manuscript, ‘Bryan, if they have any questions after reading it, they should write to you or I.’ In principle, I agree: you're welcome to write to him or me. If you do, feel free to be accusative.”Bryan A. Garner, author of Garner’s Modern English Usage“We who learned the traditional schoolroom grammar are uneasily aware that much of it is creaky and a good deal is rubbish. Happily, Geoffrey K. Pullum, the distinguished linguist, gives us The Truth About English Grammar, a lucid guide that conforms to modern linguistic understanding. Read only his chapter on passive constructions and you will be the better for it.”John E. McIntyre, fo

작가정보

저자(글) Geoffrey K. Pullum

에든버러대학교 언어학과 명예교수. 음운론, 형태론, 의미론, 화용론, 언어 철학 등 언어학의 다양한 주제에 관해 300편이 넘는 논문과 저서를 출간했고, 미국 캘리포니아대학교 산타크루스, 영국 에든버러대학교에서 언어학과 영문법을 가르쳤다. 2002년 로드니 허들스턴과 함께 1,860페이지에 달하는 방대한 문법서 《케임브리지 영문법The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language》을 출간했다. 특유의 유쾌한 화법으로 매체에 영문법과 언어학에 관한 글을 꾸준히 매채에 기고하며 대중에게 적극적으로 다가가는 학자로 평가받고 있다. 청년 시절 ‘Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band’를 결성해 건반 및 보컬리스트로 활동했다. 이 밴드는 영국 음반 차트에 38주간 머물며 상업적 성공을 거두었다. 지은 책으로 《Linguistics》, 《A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar》 등이 있다.