The Philosophy of Grammar

This study grew out of a series of lectures Jespersen gave at Columbia University in 1909-10, called "An Introduction to English Grammar." It is the connected presentation of Jespersen's views of the general principles of grammar based on years of studying various languages through both direct observation of living speech and written and printed documents. "[The Philosophy of Grammar and Analytic Syntax] set forth the most extensive and original theory of universal grammar prior to the work of Chomsky and other generative grammarians of the last thirty years."--Arne Juul and Hans F. Nielsen, in Otto Jespersen: Facets of His Life and Work "Besides being one of the most perceptive observers and original thinkers that the field of linguistics has ever known, Jespersen was also one of its most entertaining writers, and reading The Philosophy of Grammar is fun. Read it, enjoy it."--James D. McCawley, from the Introduction Otto Jespersen (1860-1943), an authority on the growth and structure of language, was the Chair of the English Department at the University of Copenhagen. Among his many works are A Modern English Grammar and Analytic Syntax.

Otto Jespersen (1860-1943), an authority on the growth and structure of language, was the Chair of the English Department at the University of Copenhagen.

1. Living grammar 2. Systematic grammar 3. Systematic grammar (continued) 4. Parts of speech 5. Substantive and adjectives 6. Parts of speech (concluded) 7. The three ranks 8. Junction and nexus 9. Various kinds of nexus 10. Nexus-substantives. Final words on nexus 11. Subject and predicate 12. Object. Active and passive 13. Case 14. Number 15. Number (concluded) 16. Person 17. Sex and Gender 18. Comparison 19. Time and tense 20. Time and tense (concluded 21. Direct and indirect speech 22. Classification of utterances 23. Moods 24. Negation 25. Conclusion