The definitive text on English grammar for the 21st century

People should not feel so intimidated by English grammar, according to one of the co-authors of a ground-breaking new book on the structure of the English language.

University of Queensland Emeritus Professor Rodney Huddleston says many students have been browbeaten by the teaching of unenlightened “prescriptive” grammar, whose rules for “correct” English are often in conflict with actual usage.

Professor Huddleston`s response to this has been to describe comprehensively the grammatical rules of different forms of English in a 1860-page book, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, to published by Cambridge University Press on April 25.

It is the first comprehensive grammar reference book of standard international English in nearly 20 years.

The book was co-authored with University of California Professor Geoffrey Pullum in collaboration with an international research team of over a dozen linguists in five countries.

Professor Huddleston said the major aim of the project was to present a new analysis of English grammar taking account of research in linguistics over the last fifty years.

"There is a huge gap between the traditional grammar taught in schools, and assumed in dictionaries or usage manuals, and the descriptions proposed by those working in the field of linguistics," Professor Huddleston said.

"The aim of this book is to bridge that gap, presenting a grammar that follows the principles of modern linguistics but that is accessible to readers without formal training in linguistics.``

The new analysis simplifies many areas of English grammar by doing away with irrelevant traditional categories inherited from Latin.

"We have been more careful in the selection of grammatical categories. In simplifying such areas, we hope the book is more relevant to a modern audience," he said.

Professor Huddleston, who has held research positions in Edinburgh, London and Reading, first began this project 13 years ago when, as a University of Queensland researcher, he gave an unfavourable review of the last comprehensive grammar of English.

Professor Huddleston was able to work on the book full time with assistance of a large grant and fellowship from the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Media: for more information contact Professor Huddleston (tel. 07 3878 6498, email r.huddleston@mailbox.uq.edu.au ) or Peter McCutcheon at UQ Communications (tel. 07 3365 1088 or 0413 380012)