METHOD OF NORMATIVE GRAMMAR. While nor mative grammars vary somewhat according to the special requirements of the languages of which they treat, or according to the class of readers to whom they are addressed, they should be written in general according to a uniform out line. The comprehensive definition of the language considered by the grammar in question is given, the dialectic subdivisions are described and lo calized, and their mutual relations to each other are presented. The orthography, pronunciation, and main principles of accent are next consid ered, and then the phonology is taken up syste matically, preferably in the order of vowels, semivowels, nasals, liquids, mutes (gutturals, palatals, dentals, and labials), and spirants. Af ter the phonology comes the noun-formation, fol lowed by the inflection of nouns and adjectives according to their various declensions, then pro nouns and numerals, and finally adverbs, prepo sitions, conjunctions, and interjections. Next conies the section on verb-formation, followed by the verb-inflection arranged according to the different conjugations of the language under con sideration. The division of syntax follows that of inflection. Here several arrangements are pos
sible. The simplest method is to repeat the order observed in the inflectional part. The concluding portion of the syntax may often be devoted profitably to a discussion of the word order of the language, and a sketch of the metres found in the poetry should conclude the work. Com parisons of the dialects of the language with its literary form may often be introduced in their proper places. It must be borne in mind that this is the outline of a technical scientific gram mar. Special grammars, as those for beginners and schools, will frequently deviate for practical purposes more or less from the outline here given. Any arrangement which seems best for the spe cial object of such a grammar may be adopted. The various lessons into which school grammars are frequently divided are often provided with vocabularies of new words, and with sentences for translation from and into the language treated by the work. It is not unusual to ap pend a chrestomathy of the- languages containing extracts from some of its most important liter ary works, and to follow this with a glossary.