* Parts of speech: Categorizing words into noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, interjection, etc., based on their function and form. These categories are often rigidly defined.
* Inflections: Emphasis on the changes in word form (e.g., verb conjugations, noun declensions) that indicate grammatical function. This is much more prominent in languages like Latin than in English.
* Prescriptive rules: A strong emphasis on setting rules for "correct" usage, often based on the perceived prestige of certain dialects or historical usage. These rules frequently dictate what is considered grammatically acceptable, rather than describing actual language use.
* Syntactic analysis based on sentence structure: Analyzing sentences by identifying the subject, verb, and object, often using diagramming techniques to visualize relationships between words.
Key differences from other approaches:
Compared to more modern approaches like generative grammar or corpus linguistics, traditional grammar:
* Is less descriptive: It doesn't necessarily aim to capture the full range of linguistic variation or the complexities of natural language use.
* Is more prescriptive: It often imposes rules rather than merely describing observed patterns.
* Relies heavily on intuition and established authorities: It's less grounded in empirical data compared to modern linguistic approaches that use large corpora of language data.
While criticized for its rigidity and prescriptivism, traditional grammar remains valuable for its historical context and its continued use in language education at introductory levels. Many people are introduced to grammar through this framework, even if they later learn about more sophisticated linguistic theories.