3. What is a Reference Grammar?
A reference grammar is a prose-like description of
the major grammatical constructions in a
language, illustrated with examples.
A description of the grammar of a language, with
explanations of the principles governing the construction
of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.

4. tense
Affirmative/Negative/Question
Use
actions taking place
one after another
action set by a
timetable or schedule

action taking place in
the moment of
speaking

action taking place
only for a limited
period of time

action arranged for the
future
always, every …, never,
normally, often, seldom,
sometimes, usually
if sentences type I (If
I talk, …)
facts

Present
A: He is speaking.
Progressive N: He is not speaking.
Q: Is he speaking?
action in the present
taking place once,
never or several
times

A: He speaks.
N: He does not speak.
Q: Does he speak?


Simple
Present
Signal Words
at the moment, just, just
now, Listen!, Look!, now,
right now

5. Simple Past
A: He spoke.
N: He did not
speak.
Q: Did he
speak?
 action in the past taking
place once, never or several
times
yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in
1990, the other day, last Friday
if sentence type II (If I talked, …)
 actions taking place one after
another
 action taking place in the middle
of another action
Past
Progressive
A: He was
when, while, as long as
 action going on at a certain
speaking.
time in the past
N: He was not
speaking.
 actions taking place at the same
Q: Was he
time
speaking?
 action in the past that is
interrupted by another action

6. Present Perfect
Simple
A: He has
spoken.
N: He has not
spoken.
Q: Has he
spoken?
putting emphasis on the result

action that is still going on


already, ever, just, never,
not yet, so far, till now, up
to now
action that stopped recently
finished action that has an influence
on the present

Present Perfect
Progressive

action that has taken place once,
never or several times before the
moment of speaking
A: He has been

speaking.
N: He has not
been speaking. 
Q: Has he been
speaking?

all day, for 4 years, since
putting emphasis on the course or
1993, how long?, the
duration (not the result)
whole week
action that recently stopped or is
still going on
finished action that influenced the
present

7. Past Perfect
Simple
A: He had spoken.
 action taking place before a
N: He had not
certain time in the past
spoken.
Q: Had he
 sometimes interchangeable
spoken?
with past perfect progressive
already, just, never, not
yet, once, until that day
if sentence type III (If I had
talked, …)
 putting emphasis only on
the fact (not the duration)
Past Perfect
Progressive
A: He had been
speaking.
N: He had not
been speaking.
Q: Had he been
speaking?
 action taking place before a
certain time in the past
 sometimes interchangeable
with past perfect simple
 putting emphasis on
the duration or course of an
action
for, since, the whole day,
all day

8. Future I
Simple
A: He will speak.
 action in the future that cannot be
N: He will not
influenced
speak.
Q: Will he speak?  spontaneous decision
 assumption with regard to the
future
Future I
Simple
(going to)
A: He is going to
 decision made for the future
speak.
N: He is not going  conclusion with regard to the
to speak.
future
Q: Is he going to
speak?
in a year, next …, tomorrow
If-Satz Typ I (If you ask her,
shewill help you.)
assumption: I think, probably,
perhaps
in one year, next week,
tomorrow

9. Future I
Progressive
A: He will be
speaking.
N: He will not be
speaking.
Q: Will he be
speaking?
Future II Simple A: He will have
spoken.
N: He will not have
spoken.
Q: Will he have
spoken?
Future II
Progressive
 action that is going on at a
certain time in the future
in one year, next week,
tomorrow
 action that is sure to happen in
the near future
 action that will be finished at a
certain time in the future
A: He will have been
 action taking place before a
speaking.
certain time in the future
N: He will not have
been speaking.
 putting emphasis on
Q: Will he have been
the course of an action
speaking?
by Monday, in a week
for …, the last couple of
hours, all day long

10. Conditional I
Simple
A: He would speak.

N: He would not
speak.
Q: Would he speak?
Conditional I
Progressive
A: He would be

speaking.
N: He would not be 
speaking.
Q: Would he be
speaking?
Conditional II
Simple
A: He would have
spoken.
N: He would not
have spoken.
Q: Would he have
spoken?
Conditional II
Progressive
A: He would have

been speaking.
N: He would not
have been speaking. 
Q: Would he have
been speaking?

action that might take place
if sentences type II
(If I were you, I would
go home.)
action that might take place
putting emphasis on
the course / duration of the
action
action that might have taken
place in the past
action that might have taken
place in the past
puts emphasis on
the course / duration of the
action
if sentences type III
(If I had seen that,
I would have helped.)

11. Required training and courses
In order to write a reference grammar you
should be trained in descriptive linguistics. The
following courses combined with practical help will
equip you to produce a suitable reference grammar:
•
Phonetics
•
Phonology
•
Morphology
•
Syntax
•
Semantics
•
Field methods

12. Parts of a reference grammar
________________________________________
Although reference grammars vary considerably
in length and scope, a good one should consist
minimally of the following substantive parts:

13. Introduction
An introductory section or chapter should
provide essential background material on the language
and its speakers, including genetic
affiliation, sociolinguistic situation
(demography, dialects), ethnography, and a brief
review of previous literature. This section does not
have to be very long, but it is absolutely necessary in
order to orient the reader to the language as a vehicle
for communication used by real people.

14. Body
The main part of the grammar is usually organized
according to some structural organizing principle. One
principle that I advocate is to begin with "smaller" units of
structure and to work one's way up to the larger and
normally more complex units, for example:
•
Phonemes
•
Nouns
•
Nominal predications
•
Verbs
•
Verbal predications
•
Compound predications
•
Complex predications
•
Discourse structure

15. As structural complexity increases, it becomes
less and less feasible to organize the grammar
according to structure alone. There are other possible
organizing principles, and to a great extent the
organization of a particular grammar should reflect
the unique characteristics of the language itself.

16. Index
A good index is what turns an ordinary
grammar into a true reference grammar. One "test" I often
apply to published grammars is to look up some
grammatical feature that ought to be treated in any
reference grammar, such as relative clauses or causatives,
and check on how long it takes me to find an example of
that feature. If it takes longer than five minutes, the
grammar fails the test. Since the purpose of a reference
grammar is to make detailed information on a language
accessible, a good measure of its success in accomplishing
its intended purpose is how easily that detailed
information can be found. Without a good index, the best
reference grammar in the world is almost useless.

17. Bibliography
The grammar should contain a bibliography of
all previous literature on the language, plus other
works cited in the grammar.
Abbreviations
All descriptive linguistic work involves
abbreviations. A good informative list of all the
abbreviations found in the grammar is an important
tool to allow the reader to comprehend and use it.

18. Here is a table that contrasts reference
grammars with pedagogical grammars:
A reference grammar is
…
Designed to teach someone about the language and to
give readers a reference tool for looking up specific
details of the language.
A pedagogical grammar is …
Designed to teach someone how to use a language.
Organized according to universal structural categories. Organized according to usefulness and ease of learning.
Contains chapters which tend to be longer than those in Contains chapters which tend to be short and contain very brief
a pedagogical grammar.
grammatical explanations.
Contains chapters which consist mostly of explanation Contains chapters which consist mostly of exercises that help the
plus one or two examples of every point mentioned.
reader practice and internalize the various structures as well as
vocabulary and pronunciation.
Written for individuals who have some understanding Written for anyone who is interested in learning a language.
of language as a universal phenomenon and who wish to
learn how the particular language described fits into
universal understandings of human language.

19. Kinds
Here is a table that describes the
two kinds of reference grammars
based on their organization and
intended users:
Intended Users
Organization
Mother-tongue speakers of the
Organized in terms of the forms
language who want to understand that the readers already know how
more about their language
to use, but are not aware of their
significance to the grammar as a
whole
Example
In a reference grammar of
English for English speakers
there may be sections
on the and a.
Linguists who want information on Organized in terms of a universal In a reference grammar of
the language for comparative
outline designed to help the reader English, the and a may be
purposes
make meaningful comparisons
treated in a section on
between the language described identifiability'. (Reference
and other languages
grammars of other
languages may treat the
order of nouns in a sentence
or some bound
morphological markers
under this same heading.)

20. Thank You