Sometimes I can't help thinking that grammar is just another feeling

It is 00.46 AM here in the Netherlands. Perhaps I should get some sleep.

But.. sometimes I can't help thinking that grammar is just another feeling, you know?

That is, a conscious subjective experience of emotion. Granted, a learned feeling in a sense but hey - still.. sort of comparable to the experience of the emotion disgust. Sorting "bad" from "good" on partially learned basis from cultural norms (some are more disgusted by feet than others for example).

This become particularly evident when considering the Swedish expression "det skär i öronen" ("it's like knife cuts in the ears"), an expression often used for unpleasant music or noise but also sometimes in context of grammaticality judgements, that is when one asks a speaker if something is grammatical. The reaction to the ungrammatical expression is not only rational ("this is wrong, I understand you less good now"), but a similarity is drawn to the experience of actual physical pain.

I know that grammar isn't a feeling, but sometimes, especially late at night, it's just fun to space out a little.

Good night everyone.

From older post:


The rules that govern whether or not a statement is a viable member of a language is called grammar, it can vary with each group you are a part of and even over time and specific context within that group. 

Sometimes the term "grammar" is used more broadly also outside of the study of language and is also applied to any set of rules that govern whether something is a member of a system or not, such as the grammar of Chinese ice-ray latices.