Editing Robert Lowth (section)

==Work on English grammar==
Lowth is also remembered for his publication in 1762 of ''A Short Introduction to English Grammar''.  Prompted by the absence of simple and [[Pedagogy|pedagogical]] [[grammar]] textbooks in his day, Lowth set out to remedy the situation.  Lowth's grammar is the source of many of the prescriptive [[shibboleth]]s that are studied in schools, and established him as the first of a long line of usage commentators who judge the English language in addition to describing it.  An example of both is one of his footnotes: "''Whose'' is by some authors made the [[possessive case]] of ''which'', and applied to things as well as persons; I think, improperly."

His most famous contribution to the study of grammar may have been his tentative suggestion that sentences ending with a [[preposition]]—such as "what did you ask for?"—are inappropriate in formal writing. (This is known as [[preposition stranding]].) In what may have been intentional [[self-reference]], Lowth used that very construction in discussing it.  "This is an Idiom which our language is strongly inclined to; it prevails in common conversation, and suits very well with the familiar style in writing; but the placing of the Preposition before the Relative is more graceful, as well as more perspicuous; and agrees much better with the solemn and elevated Style."<sup>[[#Notes|2]]</sup> Others had previously expressed this opinion; the earliest known is [[John Dryden]] in 1672.

Lowth's method included criticising "false syntax"; his examples of false syntax were culled from Shakespeare, the [[King James Version of the Bible|King James Bible]], [[John Donne]], [[John Milton]], [[Jonathan Swift]], [[Alexander Pope]], and other famous writers.  His understanding of grammar, like that of all linguists of his period, was influenced by the study of [[Latin]], though he was aware that this was problematic and condemned "forcing the English under the rules of a foreign Language"<sup>[[#Notes|1]]</sup>.  Thus Lowth condemns [[Joseph Addison|Addison]]'s sentence "Who should I meet the other night, but my old friend?" on the grounds that the thing acted upon should be in the "Objective Case" (corresponding, as he says earlier, to an [[oblique case]] in Latin), rather than taking this example and others as evidence from noted writers that "who" can refer to direct objects.

Lowth's dogmatic assertions appealed to those who wished for certainty and authority in their language.  Lowth's grammar was not written for children; however, within a decade after it appeared, versions of it adapted for the use of schools had appeared, and Lowth's stylistic opinions acquired the force of law in the schoolroom. The textbook remained in standard usage throughout educational institutions until the early 20th century.
{{further|History of English grammars}}