They have been discussed by linguists as exemplifying specific attitudes to language and usage. Traditional grammar books have often, however, combined description and prescription. Since the late 1950s, it has become common in linguistics to contrast descriptive grammars with generative grammars . The former involve a description of linguistic structures, usually based on utterances elicited from native-speaking informants. Chomsky argued that generative grammars are more valuable, since they capture the creative aspect of human linguistic ability.
Linguists generally regard both approaches as complementary.
See Chomsky , Competence And Performance , Descriptivism And Prescriptivism , Generative Grammar , Linguistics , Structural Linguistics . Descriptivism And Prescriptivism The Oxford Companion to the English Language 2. Grammar The Oxford Companion to the English Language 3. The Oxford Companion to the English Language 4. The Oxford Companion to the English Language 5.