On page 41 of Noguchi's Grammar and the Teaching of Writing, he distinguishes between two kinds of rules: descriptive rules of the English language and prescriptive rules about language. He points out that a sentence like "Girl is the tall." violates descriptive rules and, therefore, is not an English sentence. On the other hand, "Sam ain't going" violates the prescriptive rule against using "ain't," and so is an English sentence but just doesn't conform to the prescriptive rules.

I'm wondering what Noguchi would say about sentences like the following:

Girl is tall.
An girl is tall.

Which kind of rule do they violate?

Peter Adams
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