 |
|
Style, meaning and the structure of sentences
Task B - A summary of what we have learned so far in this section
Task A shows that we have common intuitions about the normal grammatical
structure of sentences. The fact that we share intuitions about the grammar
of sentences is because we have internalised the rules of English grammar.
Native speakers do this when they are very young, and operate so fast
with language that they are not usually consciously aware of what they
know about language. We are in the business of making this implicit knowledge
explicit, so that we can describe more accurately how texts have the meanings
and effects that they do.
This is effectively what we have done in task A, when we have compared
the structures Hughes produces with rough equivalents that we think of
as more normal. So far we have only looked at a tiny part of what is involved
in the grammar of simple sentences, and we clearly need to know more if
we are to describe meaning and effect accurately. The rest of this topic
is devoted to filling in a bit more explicit knowledge about the grammar
of simple sentences and clauses.
|
