The history of English grammars[1][2] begins late in the sixteenth century with the Pamphlet for Grammar by William Bullokar. In the early works, the structure and rules of English grammar were based on those of Latin. A more modern approach, incorporating phonology, was introduced in the nineteenth century.
- ^ Proffitt, Michael, ed. (2023), "2. grammar (noun)", Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.),
A treatise or book on grammar. Examples: 1530 'Folowyng the order of Theodorus Gaza, in his grammer of the Greke tonge.' J. Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement Epistle Ded; 1594 'I read it in the Grammer long agoe.' W. Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus iv. ii. 23; ... 1693 'We have yet no English Prosodia, not so much as a tolerable Dictionary, or a Grammar.' J. Dryden, Discourse conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al., translation of Juvenal, Satires; 1751 'We are taught in common Grammars that Verbs Active require an Accusative.' J. Harris, Hermes i. ix. 179.
(subscription required) - ^ Greenbaum, Sidney (1996), Oxford English Grammar, Oxford University Press, p. 23, ISBN 978-0-19-861250-6,
The word grammar is used in a number of ways. It may refer to a book, in which case a grammar is analogous to a dictionary. And just as we have many English dictionaries, which vary in the number of their entries and the quality of their definitions, so we have many English grammars (or grammar books), which vary in their coverage and their accuracy. The largest English dictionary is the scholarly twenty-volume Oxford English Dictionary, which traces the history of words and their meanings. Similarly, there are large scholarly grammars, notably the seven-volume Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, published at intervals between 1909 and 1949 and still consulted by scholars, and the more recent Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, published in 1985, that extends to nearly 1,800 pages.