Grammatical Theory: Its Limits and Its PossibilitiesNewmeyer persuasively defends the controversial theory of transformational generative grammar. Grammatical Theory is for every linguist, philosopher, or psychologist who is skeptical of generative grammar and wants to learn more about it. Newmeyer's formidable scholarship raises the level of debate on transformational generative grammar. He stresses the central importance of an autonomous formal grammar, discusses the limitations of "discourse-based" approaches to syntax, cites support for generativist theory in recent research, and clarifies misunderstood concepts associated with generative grammar. |
Contents
The Generativist Approach to Linguistic Analysis | 1 |
12 On the Autonomy of Grammar and the Modular Conception of Language | 2 |
13 Some Evidence for the Autonomy of Formal Grammar | 5 |
132 Evidence from Language Acquisition | 11 |
133 Neurological Evidence | 23 |
14 Some Modular Accounts of Linguistic Phenomena | 27 |
141 Multiply CenterEmbedded Constructions | 29 |
142 Tag Questions | 30 |
35 Some Contributions of Grammatical Theory to the Understanding of Variation | 80 |
351 Pidgins and Creoles | 81 |
352 Casual Speech Phenomena | 83 |
353 Dialect Differences | 86 |
354 Speech Errors | 89 |
355 Language Play | 91 |
356 Bilingual Code Switching | 94 |
Formal Grammar and Extragrammatical Principles | 96 |
143 Indirect Speech Acts | 32 |
144 The Interpretation of Anaphoric Elements | 33 |
15 Some Troublesome Concepts | 34 |
151 Competence and Performance | 35 |
152 Linguistic Universals | 38 |
153 Simplicity and Evaluation | 41 |
154 Psychological Reality | 42 |
The Data Base of Grammatical Theory | 48 |
22 Conflicting Analyses Not Conflicting Judgments | 50 |
Letting the Grammar Decide | 53 |
223 The Problem of Context | 55 |
224 Some Alleged Data Disagreements | 57 |
23 Introspective and Nonintrospective Data | 60 |
231 On Investigating Acceptability Experimentally | 61 |
232 The Studies Disconfirming Introspective Data | 63 |
233 The Validity Problem | 66 |
24 Is Grammatical Theory EnglishOriented? | 67 |
Grammatical Theory and Language Variation | 73 |
33 Optional Rules and Free Variation | 76 |
34 On Variable Rules | 77 |
42 Three Popular Beliefs about Language | 100 |
Grammatical Form Is Derivable from Extragrammatical Principles | 101 |
Communicative Function Explains Linguistic Form | 112 |
43 Two DiscourseOriented Approaches to Grammar | 113 |
432 Givons On Understanding Grammar | 119 |
The Applicability of Grammatical Theory | 130 |
52 Three Reasons for the Disillusionment with Generativist Theory | 131 |
521 The Unrealistic Expectations of Many Applied Linguists | 132 |
522 Unsuccessful Applications of the Theory | 135 |
523 The Supposed Indifference of Generativists to Applied Concerns | 137 |
53 Some Implications and Applications of Grammatical Theory | 140 |
552 Natural Language Processing | 148 |
533 Linguistics and Literature | 149 |
534 Linguistics as the Core of a Science Curriculum | 151 |
535 Grammatical Theory and Nonstandard Dialects | 153 |
54 Conclusion | 156 |
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Common terms and phrases
ability abstract acceptability analysis anaphora aphasic applied linguistics approach aspects autonomous Bolinger Bolinger's Broca's aphasia c-command Carden characterization child language Chomsky Chomsky's claim clitics code switching cognitive communication competence complex conclude consonant constraints construction context deletion derived dialects discourse discussion Emonds English errors evidence example experimental explanation extragrammatical fact factors formal grammar function generativist Givón Gleitman gram grammatical theory guage hypothesis interaction interpretation introspective data intuitions involved John Labov language acquisition language learner language teaching linguistic theory markedness matical modular native language natural notion noun phrase particular passive phenomena phonological Pig Latin position pragmatic predict presuppositional principles problems pronoun properties proposed psycholinguistic psychological question reflect relation Sankoff seems semantic sentences speakers speech acts strategy Syntactic Structures syntax tences theoretical tion transformational generative grammar transformational grammar types unacceptable ungrammatical universal grammar variable rules variation verb vowel word