Description

Syntactic Structures

Syntactic Structures is a major work in linguistics by American linguist Noam Chomsky.

It was first published in 1957. It introduced the idea of transformational generative grammar. This approach to syntax (the study of sentence structures) was fully formal (based on symbols and rules).

At its base, this method uses phrase structure rules.

 These rules break down sentences into smaller parts. Chomsky then combines these with a new kind of rules called “transformations“. This procedure gives rise to different sentence structures.

Using this limited set of rules, Chomsky aimed to “generate”all and only the grammatical sentences of a given language, which are unlimited in number.

Syntactic Structures is Chomsky’s first book. It is a short monograph of about a hundred pages. Chomsky wrote it for specialists in linguistics. He based it on the lecture notes he had prepared for his students at MIT.

In it, he offered the now-famous sentence “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”

 This is a sentence with no clear meaning.

Yet, grammar-wise it still seems instinctively correct to a native English speaker. For Chomsky, the study of syntax is thus independent of semantics (the study of meaning).^{[10][note 5]}

Chomsky wrote Syntactic Structures when he was still an unknown scholar.

Mouton, a small Dutch publisher, released the book. Still, this dense technical work was well received in the beginning.

It was even considered a welcome addition to the existing tradition of language study.

Yet, established older linguists soon began criticizing it for its bold new views.

Unlike them, younger linguists were eager to adopt Chomsky’s way of doing research.

And so linguistics changed course in the second half of the 20th century. It became normal to build more formal theories with syntax at their center. This way of study valued language’s place in the mind over language behavior.

Syntactic Structures has influenced fields outside linguistics. It had a big impact on the study of knowledge, mind and mental processes.

It also had a smaller effect on the research on computers and brain.

 Some specialists have questioned Chomsky’s theory.

They think it is wrong to describe language as an ideal system. They also say it gives less value to the gathering and testing of data.

 Still, going into the 21st century, linguists and non-linguists alike praised the book. They recognized it as one of the most important studies of the 20th century

Biography

Syntactic Structures

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