ABSTRACT
The study of grammar is the study of the rules of language. Language is a system of symbols that is rule-governed. Language is also a multilevel system of rules. Although most people see grammar as synonymous with the study of sentence structure and other forms larger than words, this is only one level of grammar, called syntax. Syntax is the study of the rules to combine morphemes and words into linguistic units larger than words; morphology is the grammar of words; phonology is the grammar of speech sounds. In the 1950s, Noam Chomsky revolutionized the study of syntax with his concept of transformational-generative grammar. Universal grammar, a basic prewiring of the brain that predisposes all people to encode experiences linguistically in a specific way, converts those ideas into phrase structure rules. The fact that fluent speakers of a language can usually detect deviations from grammatical rules is proof of the rule-governed nature of language.
