This document summarizes key concepts from Transformational Grammar between pages 33-43. It discusses deep and surface structure, transformational rules that relate these levels of representation, and issues in grammatical theory including the centrality of syntax and debates around the innateness of language. The summary provides an overview of these core topics in the development of Transformational Grammar.

1. Transformational Grammar
p.33 - p.43
Jack
October 30th, 2012

2. Table of Contents
• Language and Grammar
• Deep and Surface structure
• Transformational Rules
• Issues in Grammatical Theory
• The Centrality of Syntax
• Is Language Innate?

3. Language and Grammar
• From a linguistic perspective, a grammar
is a description of a person’s linguistic
knowledge.

4. Language and Grammar
• Definition of Language :
– A language can be defined as an infinite set
of well-formed sentences.
• Grammar:
– A formal device with a finite set of rules that
generates the sentences in the language.

5. Language and Grammar
• Evaluation of Grammars:
– Chomsky (1972) has suggested three criteria:
• First, observational adequacy
• Second, descriptive adequacy
• Third, explanatory adequacy

6. Deep and Surface structure
• Deep structure:
– the underlying structure of a sentence that
conveys the meaning of a sentence
• Surface structure:
– the superficial arrangement of constituents
and reflects the order in which the words are
pronounced

7. Deep and Surface structure
• Three arguments for usefulness of
distinction:
– First, deep-structure ambiguity
– Second, underlying structure
– Third, active vs. passive

8. Transformational Rules
• Transformational rules
(transformations):
– applied to the deep structure and the
intermediate structures, ultimately generating
the surface structure of the sentence

9. Transformational Rules
• Examples:
– First, particle-movement transformation
• blocked with pronoun
– Second, passive transformation

10. Issues in Grammatical Theory
• Psychological Reality of Grammar
– Belief:
• Structure and rules of transformational grammar
were psychologically real.
– Assumption:
• Surface structure was the starting point for
comprehension and the deep structure was the
ending point.

11. Issues in Grammatical Theory
• Derivational Theory of Complexity (DTC):
– The distance between surface and deep
structure would be an accurate index of the
psychological complexity.

12. Issues in Grammatical Theory
• Early studies:
– Negative were more difficult to comprehend.
• Later Studies:
– Affirmative were more difficult to comprehend.
＊ No intuition and experiment has revealed the relationship of
possessing difficulty, so some assumptions guiding DTC are faulty.

13. Issues in Grammatical Theory
• Recent grammatical theory:
– Using the leaving trace of passive voice
– Proved that passive voice are more difficult or
slow to understand comparing to active
sentence.
– Zurif and Swinney (1994) suggest that traces
have psychological reality.

14. The Centrality of Syntax
• Chomsky (1995)
– syntactic structure is the heart of our linguistic
knowledge.
It’s controversial.

15. The Centrality of Syntax
• Two alternative approaches:
– Bresnan (1978)
• lexical functional grammar/psychologically realistic
grammar
• Greater emphasis on individual lexical items
• Storing syntactic information in the lexical entry
simplifies the process of comprehending
sentences.

16. The Centrality of Syntax
• Two alternative approaches:
– Jackendoff (2002)
• Grammars have multiple sets of function rules and
a complete account of grammar requires attention
to the interfaces between different systems.
• These systems operates in parallel.
• It might be easier to understand the evolution of
language.

17. Evolution of Language
• The relationship between grammar and
evolution:
– Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch (2002):
• FLB (faculty of language in the broad sense)
– memory
– cognitive skills
– intentional behaviors between humans
• FLN (faculty of language in the narrow sense)
– the capacity of recursion
– mapping meanings onto sound

18. Evolution of Language
• Criticize:
– Pinker and Jackendoff (2005):
• There are many aspects of grammar that are not
recursive, such as morphology.

19. Is Language Innate?
• Nativists assert that children are born with
some linguistic knowledge.
Are there
any
evidence?

20. Is Language Innate?
• Evidence:
– Without presenting consistent linguistic
model, they have the capacity to invent some
aspects of language.
– Deaf children invented hands gestures that
are similar to ASL (American Sign Language)

21. Is Language Innate?
• Parameter:
– a grammatical feature that can be set to any
of several values.
• example: null-subject parameter
» English is a subject language
» Italian is a null subject language

22. Is Language Innate?
• Parameter-setting theorists
– Chomsky (1981) ; Hyams (1986)
• Children are born with parameters and values.
• the importance of experience
• shows a tidy solution of how innate processes
interact with a child’s language experience.