ABSTRACT
Until the 19th century, Latin grammar was deemed universally applicable to all languages, not just English and related European tongues. Those who were interested in studying grammar devoted a great deal of their attention to what are known as “linguistic universals”—features of grammar and language that transcend individual languages. All languages, for example, have subjects and predicates, and all have some way of referencing the time of actions in sentences. Within the context of modern grammar, the concept of linguistic universals also is concerned with the knowledge that a person has of language in general. This knowledge is deemed to be the result of certain innate characteristics of being human rather than of education or learning.
