"Within modern linguistics, it is chiefly within the last few years that fairly substantial attempts have been made to construct explicit generative grammars for particular languages and to explore their consequences. No great surprise should be occasioned by the extensive discussion and debate concerning the proper formulation of the theory of generative grammar and the correct description of the languages that have been most intensively studied. The tentative character of any conclusions that can now be advanced concerning linguistic theory, or, for that matter, English grammar, should certainly be obvious to anyone working in this area. (It is sufficient to consider the vast range of linguistic phenomena that have resisted insightful formulation in any terms.) Still, it seems that certain fairly substantial conclusions are emerging and receiving continually increased support. In particular, the central role of grammatical transformations in any empirically adequate generative grammar seems to me to be established quite firmly, though there remain many questions as to the proper form of the theory of transformational grammar."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesHistorians from the United StatesJews from the United StatesLinguists from the United StatesSocial anarchists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Preface
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Noam Chomsky
philosopher, linguist, political writer
1928 · United States
US-amerikanischer Sprachwissenschaftler und Autor
467 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Noam Chomsky →
Related Quotes
"In the post-Vietnam War era the need for Communist abuses has been no less pressing than before. More facts have come…"
"Among the many symbols used to frighten and manipulate the populace of the democratic states, few have been more impo…"
"And it’s gone on for the United States. We have measures of it. I’m sure you know that the Rand Corporation about a y…"
"The U.S.'s privatized for-profit health care system had long been an international scandal, with twice the per capita…"
"It is tempting to cast the blame on Trump for the disastrous response to the crisis. But if we hope to avert future c…"
"In the West, I think a large part of what’s happening, a very large part, is the bitter, savage, class war that’s bee…"
"The scale of the plague is surprising, indeed shocking, but not its appearance. Nor the fact that the U.S. has the wo…"
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
"I use Google all the time, I’m happy it’s there. But just as when I read The New York Times or the Washington Post, o…"
"The Native population (in the US) suffered a migrant crisis of an incredible kind ... where the immigrants come in wi…"