This book is the first English version of Prolegomena zu einer
kritischen Grammatik, published by Julius Springer, Vienna, 1935, as
Volume 10 of the Vienna Circle's series Schriften zur wissenschaftlichen
Weltauffassung. The prefatory remarks of both editor and author
acknowledge the influence ofWittgenstein in a general way. However, in
aim and approach, the work differs from Wittgenstein's Philosophische
Grammatik (l969). This is indeed based on material going back to 1932,
some of which Schachter must have known. On the other hand, the present
Prolegomena not only explains the general, philosophical principles to
be followed, but in the light of these proceeds to cover the entire
range of conventional grammar, showing where that is uncritical. Whether
Wittgenstein in his turn knew of Schachter's work has never been
explored. Schachter's object is universal grammar. As is natural, the
examples in the original are largely drawn from German grammar, with
occasional minor excursions into other languages. For English readers,
what matters are the general problems of grammar: there is no point in
tying these to the linguistic peculiarities of German, let alone a local
variety of it. One who can grasp German at that level might as well read
the original. The translation is therefore twofold: the text as a whole
has been rendered into English, and the entire apparatus of examples has
been replaced, as far as this can be done, by illustrations from English
grammar, chosen so as to bring out the same kinds of problem as in the
original.
