Grameen Bank In Bangladesh, first bank to specialize in small loans for poor individuals. Originated by economist Muhammad Yunus, the Grameen banking model is based on groups of five prospective borrowers who meet regularly with Grameen Bank field managers. Typically, two of the five prospective borrowers are granted loans. If, after a probationary time period, the first two borrowers meet the terms of repayment, then loans are granted to the remaining group members. Peer pressure acts as a replacement for traditional loan collateral. Grameen became an indepen¬ dent bank in 1983; headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, it has more than 1,000 branches in the country. A typical Grameen loan ranges from $ 100 to $400. The Grameen model has come to symbolize an efficient means of helping the poor by providing them with opportunities to help themselves. More than 90 percent of Grameen’s loan recipients have been women.
grammar Rules of a language governing its phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics; also, a written summary of such rules. The first Europeans to write grammar texts were the Greeks, notably the Alexan¬ drians of the 1st century bc. The Romans applied the Greek grammatical system to Latin. The works of the Latin grammarians Donatus (4th cen¬ tury ad) and Priscian (6th century) were widely used to teach grammar in medieval Europe. By 1700, grammars of 61 vernacular languages had been printed. These were mainly used for teaching and were intended to reform or standardize language. In the 19th-20th centuries linguists began studying languages to trace their evolution rather than to prescribe cor¬ rect usage. Descriptive linguists (see Ferdinand de Saussure) studied spo¬ ken language by collecting and analyzing sample sentences. Transformational grammarians (see Noam Chomsky) examined the under¬ lying structure of language (see generative gramaaar). The older approach to grammar as a body of rules needed to speak and write correctly is still the basis of primary and secondary language education.
Grammy Awards Annual awards given by the Recording Academy (officially the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences). The first Grammies (the name is a dimunitive of “gramophone”) were given in 1958. The awards, which reflect the votes of the Academy’s large membership of musicians, producers, and other music professionals, have expanded considerably to reflect the variety of musical taste and produc¬ tion; today awards are given in dozens of categories.
Grampian Mountains or Grampian Hills Mountain system, Scotland. Extending across central Scotland, it forms a natural boundary between the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands. Its highest peak, Ben Nevis, is the highest mountain in Britain.
Grampians, the Mountain range, western Victoria, Australia. Com¬ posed mainly of hard sandstone, the range is noted for deep gorges, weath¬ ered rock formations, and wildflowers. The highest peak, Mount William, rises to 3,827 ft (1,166 m). The range was named after the Grampian Mountains of Scotland.
Gramsci Vgram-she\, Antonio (b. Jan. 23, 1891, Ales, Sardinia—d. April 27, 1937, Rome, Italy) Italian intellectual and politician. After enter¬ ing the University of Turin, he joined the Italian Socialist Party in 1914. In 1921 he left the Socialists to found the Italian Communist Party (see Democratic Party of the Left), and he spent two years in the Soviet Union. In 1924 he became head of the party and was elected to the national leg¬ islature. The party was outlawed by the fascist government of Benito Mussolini in 1926, and Gramsci was arrested and imprisoned for 11 years; in poor health, he was released to die at 46. His influential Letters from Prison (1947) and other writings outline a version of communism less dogmatic than Soviet communism. His work has influenced sociology, political theory, and international relations.
Gran Chaco \gran-'cha-ko\ Spanish Chaco or El Chaco Lowland alluvial plain, south-central South America. An arid lowland, it is bounded by the Andes Mountains to the west and the Paraguay and Parana rivers to the east; its northern and southern margins, generally considered to be a marshy area in Bolivia and the Salado River in Argentina, respectively, are less well defined. Its area is about 280,000 sq mi (725,000 sq km). The region’s heartland, in the fork of the Paraguay and Pilcomayo rivers, was fought over by Bolivia and Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932-35). By a 1938 treaty a larger eastern part went to Paraguay and a smaller western part to Bolivia. Chaco’s wildlife is abundant, and there are at least 60 known species of snakes. Cattle grazing is a major economic activity. The area remains isolated and is only sparsely populated.
Gran Colombia \'gran-ko-'lom-be-a\ Former South American repub¬ lic (1819-30). Formerly the Viceroyalty of New Granada, it included roughly the modern nations of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecua¬ dor. Gran Colombia was formed in 1819 during the war for independence from Spain, with its capital at Bogota. Revolutionary leader Simon Boli¬ var was its creator and first president. Gran Colombia had a vigorous existence during the war, but it was dissolved with the secession of Ven¬ ezuela and Ecuador in 1830.
Gran Paradiso Vgran-.pa-ra-'de-zoV National Park Park, north¬ western Italy. Established in 1836 as a hunting zone, in 1856 it became the Royal Hunting Reserve of the Gran Paradiso, and in 1947 it received national park status. It covers an area of 153,240 acres (62,000 hectares) and extends along the upper Valle d'Aosta region; it contains the highest peak in the Graian Alps, Gran Paradiso, at 13,323 ft (4,061 m). The ter¬ rain is typically Alpine, with numerous glaciers and coniferous tree-lined slopes.
Granada \gra-‘na-tha\ City (pop., 2001: 240,661), capital of Granada province, Andalusia autonomous community, southern Spain. Located at the northwestern slope of the Sierra Nevada, it was the site of the Iberian settlement Elibyrge in the 5th century bc and of the Roman Illiberis. As the seat of the Moorish kingdom of Granada, it was the final stronghold of the Moors in Spain, falling to Roman Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I in 1492. Nearby is the Alhambra, as well as the Alcazaba fortress that guarded it. The city has fine Renaissance, Baroque, and Neo¬ classical architecture and is a major tourist centre. It has been the see of an archbishop since 1493; the University of Granada was founded in 1526.
Granados \gra-'na-thos\ (y Campina), Enrique (b. July 27, 1867, Lerida, Spain—d. March 24, 1916, at sea) Spanish composer. He studied composition with Felipe Pedrell and concertized as a pianist. From 1901 he taught at the Academia Granados, the music school he founded in Bar¬ celona. He wrote four zarzuelas, including Maria del Carmen (1898), and two “poemas” (also stage works), as well as songs and chamber works. His fame rests on the piano suite Goyescas (1911). His opera of the same name was performed successfully at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1916. Returning to Spain from this performance, Granados was drowned when his ship was torpedoed by a German submarine.
Grand Alliance, War of the (1689-97) Third major war of Louis XIV of France, in which his expansionist plans were blocked by an alli¬ ance led by Britain, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the Austrian Habsburgs. The deeper issue underlying the war was the rivalry between the Bourbon and FIabsburg dynasties. Louis launched a campaign
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Grand Banks ► Grand Trunk Railway I 789
in the 1680s to position the Bourbons for future succession to the Span¬ ish throne. To oppose him, the Habsburg emperor Leopold I joined other European nations in the League of Augsburg. The league proved ineffec¬ tive, but in 1690 Britain, Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria, and Spain, alarmed at Louis’s successes, joined with Leopold to form the Grand Alliance. As war broke out in Europe and in overseas colonies, including America (see King William's War), Louis found his military inadequately prepared, and France suffered heavy naval losses. In 1695 Louis started secret peace negotiations, which culminated in the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697). The underlying conflict between the Habsburg and Bourbon rul¬ ers and English-French conflicts remained unresolved and resurfaced four years later in the War of the Spanish Succession.