974 Phrase Structure Grammar
From the Universal to the Particular
Until the 19thcentury, Latin grammar was deemed universally applicable to all
languages, not just English and related European tongues. Those who were in-
terested in studying grammar devoted a great deal of their attention to what are
known as “linguistic universals”—features of grammar and language that tran-
scend individual languages. All languages, for example, have subjects and
predicates, and all have some way of referencing the time of actions in sen-
tences. Within the context of modern grammar, the concept of linguistic univer-
sals also is concerned with the knowledge that a person has of language in
general. This knowledge is deemed to be the result of certain innate characteris-
tics of being human rather than of education or learning.
Linguistic universals were an important part of traditional grammar and
served as a rationale for teaching. The study of English was a means to an end.
Students studied English grammar in preparation for studying Latin grammar.
It was understood that instruction in Latin could proceed more easily when
children mastered terminology and concepts in their own language. But the en-
terprise was not without its problems. We have already looked briefly at the is-
sue of tense. Latin and its associated languages have three tenses: past, present,
and future. English, on the other hand, has only two: past and present. Never-
theless, many scholars opted to considerwill+verbas the future tense in Eng-
lish because doing so appeared to be intuitively correct and logical. Indeed, it
does not occur to many people that a language might have fewer than three
tenses, although the perceived complexities of language cause these same peo-
ple to shrug their shoulders in resignation at the prospect that a language might