"La Gramàtica de la llengua catalana" del Institut d'Estudis Catalans: Descripción y prescripción

Euskaltzaindiaren Mendeurrena: Euskararen Gramatika

Abstract

Institut d'Estudis Catalans'  Gramàtica de la llengua catalana published in 2016 takes over from the official normative grammar, written by the linguist Pompeu Fabra and published by Institut d'Estudis Catalans in 1918. La Gramàtica de la llengua catalanais an official work, and it offersan overview of the structure of the language. It contains, therefore, the central parts of a grammar: phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax. In fact, it pays great attention to syntax, which takes up more than half the work, and includes some semantic and pragmatic specifications. In the current grammar, description is the starting point that allows the norm to be expressed. Dialectal variation is remarkable in Catalan, as is syntax, and it must be taken into
account, while it is also important to examine functional variation. Expressions and sentences need to be placed in the proper context in which they can be used. A certain con-struction may be suitable in a particular dialect or in a certain register, or it may be a commonly used construction. So from a grammatical description it is possible to draw up a norm which will sometimes be flexible, in some sense not rigid or unique. However, the fact that the rule is flexible does not mean that it does not guide users. It guides them in that it points out that the suitability of a construction sometimes depends on the register or the dialect to which it belongs. It is, therefore, a grammar with details and nuances.