Grammar
In recognition of 4 March: Grammar Day!
Grammar is a word with origins related to magic and glamour—something I wish I’d known when I learned grammar in elementary school. Where was Harry Potter when you needed him?
The word grammar comes from Latin grammatike (tekhne)—the art of letters, referring to the study of language and literature. In the medieval period, the word grammar was also used in reference to magic incantations, spells, and mumbo-jumbo.
In the early 14th century, the English words gramarye and grammar both meant learning and erudition. However, gramarye took on connotations of magic and enchantment (have you ever asked a child, “What’s the magic word?”). A gramare or gramaire was a book of conjuring or magic.
[An aside: as a twelve-year old in a Grade 8 grammar class, words like nouns, verbs, adjective, adverbs were understandable to me, but words like accusative, appositive, collocation, ellipsis, modal, passive infinitive, subjunctive did begin to seem a bit like mumbo-jumbo. And irony of ironies—my first teaching position involved teaching Grade 10 grammar to an Adult Basic Education class in rural Manitoba. As the youngest person in the room, I quickly realized that I would not survive if I was just a clone of my own boring Grade 8 grammar teacher.]
Anyway, the word grammar (Latin grammar, the rules of Latin) came to English in the late 14th century. By the 16th century, grammar was used in reference to the rules of the English (and any) language to which speakers and writers must conform.
The word glamour comes to English in 1720 from the Scottish word gramarye (magic, enchantment; from books related to occult learning). Glamour as a sense of magical beauty or alluring charm is from 1840. Glamour as a quality of Hollywood-style attractiveness and high-fashion is from 1939. In this context, I cannot help but think of cosmetics as a form of grammar for the face (cosmetic, from Greek kosmos = order, the opposite of chaos; cosmetics—ways to bring order to the chaos of a face). But I digress. Again.
The term grammar school (a school for learning Latin) is from the late 14th century. A grammarian (late 14th century) is a learned person (or magician) who works and writes in Latin. Grammar as a subject was introduced into the US school system in 1842. The surname Grammer (e.g., the American actor Kelsey Grammer) is from the late 12th century.
And, finally, the word grimoire (1849), a magician’s manual for invoking demons, is from Old French grimoire and grammaire (incantation, grammar).
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
Grammar is a word with origins related to magic and glamour—something I wish I’d known when I learned grammar in elementary school. Where was Harry Potter when you needed him?
The word grammar comes from Latin grammatike (tekhne)—the art of letters, referring to the study of language and literature. In the medieval period, the word grammar was also used in reference to magic incantations, spells, and mumbo-jumbo.
In the early 14th century, the English words gramarye and grammar both meant learning and erudition. However, gramarye took on connotations of magic and enchantment (have you ever asked a child, “What’s the magic word?”). A gramare or gramaire was a book of conjuring or magic.
[An aside: as a twelve-year old in a Grade 8 grammar class, words like nouns, verbs, adjective, adverbs were understandable to me, but words like accusative, appositive, collocation, ellipsis, modal, passive infinitive, subjunctive did begin to seem a bit like mumbo-jumbo. And irony of ironies—my first teaching position involved teaching Grade 10 grammar to an Adult Basic Education class in rural Manitoba. As the youngest person in the room, I quickly realized that I would not survive if I was just a clone of my own boring Grade 8 grammar teacher.]
Anyway, the word grammar (Latin grammar, the rules of Latin) came to English in the late 14th century. By the 16th century, grammar was used in reference to the rules of the English (and any) language to which speakers and writers must conform.
The word glamour comes to English in 1720 from the Scottish word gramarye (magic, enchantment; from books related to occult learning). Glamour as a sense of magical beauty or alluring charm is from 1840. Glamour as a quality of Hollywood-style attractiveness and high-fashion is from 1939. In this context, I cannot help but think of cosmetics as a form of grammar for the face (cosmetic, from Greek kosmos = order, the opposite of chaos; cosmetics—ways to bring order to the chaos of a face). But I digress. Again.
The term grammar school (a school for learning Latin) is from the late 14th century. A grammarian (late 14th century) is a learned person (or magician) who works and writes in Latin. Grammar as a subject was introduced into the US school system in 1842. The surname Grammer (e.g., the American actor Kelsey Grammer) is from the late 12th century.
And, finally, the word grimoire (1849), a magician’s manual for invoking demons, is from Old French grimoire and grammaire (incantation, grammar).
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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