X
133. Grammatical rules determine a meaning and are not answerable to any
meaning that they could contradict.
When don’t I call cookery rules arbitrary, and why am I tempted to call
the rules of grammar arbitrary?
I don’t call an argument good just because it has the consequences I
want.
The rules of grammar are arbitrary in the same sense as the choice of a
unit of measurement.
‘Grammatical rules determine a meaning and are not answerable to any
meaning that they could contradict’?
first up – meaning is never finally determined – it is always open to
question –
grammatical rules are proposals – propositions –
open to question – open to doubt
secondly – grammar is a theory
of usage
that so called ‘grammar’ – is an accepted theory of usage – only
testifies to its usefulness –
it is useful especially in introducing players into the common
language-game – and furthermore keeping them in it
however useful or not – as with any theory – it is open to question –
open to doubt
thirdly – not all meaningful usage conforms to what is held up as
grammar – i.e. poetry
and when you get down to it – how much of speech or writing – which
users regard as meaningful – is strictly speaking grammatical?
and really how technical do you want to get with any grammar – any
account of usage?
grammar is not a ‘fixed’ set of rules – that usage conforms to –
rather it is an attempt to account for usage
‘When don’t I call cookery rules arbitrary, and why am I tempted to call
the rules of grammar arbitrary?’
there are no rules – if by ‘rules’ what you mean is propositions – that
are not open to question –
any proposal – any proposition – held not to be open to question – open to doubt – is a prejudice –
that is a corruption of the proposition – of propositional practice
cookery rules – are methodological proposals – proposals that have been
shown to work
however in cookery as in anything else – there is as they say – more
than one way to skin a cat
in any activity we face methodological options –
we become creative when we develop and explore these options
‘I don’t call an argument good just because it has the consequences I
want’?
any argument is open to question – open to doubt – is uncertain
likewise – any consequences we draw from an argument
what we call ‘good’ – is open to question
‘The rules of grammar are arbitrary in the same sense as the choice of a
unit of measurement’?
it is a question of
language context –
if you are writing a book
of prose you will most likely have an eye to the standard grammatical practice
of your culture
if you are having a natter over the fence – not likely
if you are writing poetry – you will in your creative effort –perhaps
even in an effort to create a new language form – most likely enjoy breaking
the so called ‘rules’ –
however regardless of language
context – questions can always be put – doubts raised
in any language context the real
issue is not arbitrariness – rather uncertainty
© greg t. charlton. 2015.