Transformational Grammar

WEB Chomsky's Theory of Language

Transformational Grammar

WEB Chomsky's theory of language, known as transformational grammar, revolutionized the field of linguistics in the 1950s. Chomsky proposed that human language is based on a universal grammar that is innate to all speakers. This grammar consists of a set of rules that generate all possible sentences in a language.

Key Concepts

Chomsky's theory is based on several key concepts, including:

• Deep structure: The underlying structure of a sentence that represents its meaning.
• Surface structure: The actual words and phrases that make up a sentence.
• Transformations: Rules that convert deep structures into surface structures.

For example, the deep structure of the sentence "The dog chased the cat" would be "The cat was chased by the dog." The transformation rule "passive voice" converts this deep structure into the surface structure "The dog chased the cat."

Relevance to Today

Chomsky's theory of language continues to be influential today. It has helped us to understand how language works and how we acquire it. Chomsky's work has also had a major impact on other fields, such as psychology, philosophy, and computer science.