There are different rules of language. First, there are prescriptive rules. These are rules describing how language is supposed to be. These rules seek to preserve the pattern of speech that existed within the language sometime in the past. These rules are often used to separate classes within social environments. There are also descriptive rules. These rules help to characterize the language as fluent speakers and listeners normally speak it. .
There are also many linguistic rules. First, there are the rules of syntax. These rules govern whether or not a sequence of words is grammatical. One set of syntax rules is called phase-structure rules. These help us understand how a sentence structure is created, or how an existing sentence should be phrased. Phase structure rules create a sentences underlying structure. Movement rules are then added in order to create the sentences surface structure.
Phase structure rules play an important role in deciding which word sequences are sentences and which are not. These rules also identify sections within a sentence that really do seem to provide natural groupings, and provide us with patterns of interconnecting rules of language. If the words of a sentence are compatible with more than one phase structure, the sentence will be ambiguous. .
Not all aspects of syntax can be explained in terms of phase-structure rules. The phase-structure allows us to generate an abstract representation of a sentence. We then use a series of movement rules to change the positions of various elements within a sentence in order to create its surface structure. .
There is the possibility that when we begin to learn language unconsciously. At a certain age, children realize that instead of memorizing each word's past tense, morphemes can be added to change tense. After a child makes this discovery, they are able to expand their vocabulary much easier. These children do however tend to get too carried away with this pattern.
