This volume reflects the fact that the possibilities in theory construction allow for a much wider spectrum than students of linguistics have perhaps been led to believe. It consists of articles by scholars of differing generations and widely varying academic persuasions: some have received their initiation to the trade within the framework of transformational-generative grammar, some in one or the other structuralist mould, yet others in the philology and linguistics of particular languages and language families. They all share, however, some doubts concerning characteristic attitudes and procedures of present-day ‘mainstream linguistics’. All want, not a uniformity of ideological stance, but a union of individualists working towards the advancement of theory and empirical accountability.

The revolution in linguistic thought associated with the name of Professor Noam Chomsky centres on the theory of transformational generation, especially in grammar. This book subjects the main theory and some of its applications to a searching critique. It finds the theory in some places circular, in general descriptively inadequate, but above all aprioristic and dangerously unempirical. Professor Derwing writes as a linguist particularly interested in the psychology of language acquisition, and conscious that the TGG model starts from assumptions about the mind and linguistic universals which dictate the form and the consequences of the argument. They strike Professor Derwing as arbitrary and merely formal, and as contradicting basic scientific mental habits. In brief, Professor Derwing disputes that TGG exemplifies proper empirical scientific inquiry; that something like a TGG is part of the output of normal language acquisition; or that TGG provides a valid heuristic for psychological investigation. He argues therefore for a more experimental approach if we are actually to discover how language is acquired.

This general introduction outlines various components of the grammar, and the way in which they interact, treats movement rules in detail, and describes approaches to deletion. Also dealt with are major constraints, the theta-criterion (and related issues), semantics in the framework of generative grammar, and speech acts. No previous specialized knowledge is presupposed, the level of complexity increasing gradually throughout the book. A comprehensive index facilitates cross-referencing, and a set of exercises coded on to each chapter makes it possible for the reader to apply the system of rules and principles described in the text.

First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

No detailed description available for "Studies on Semantics in Generative Grammar".

The present volume brings together the author's most recent thinking on the tasks and methods of linguistic historiography and his critical assessment of the legacy of a number of major 20th-century scholars. Some of the chapters are revisions of previously published articles, which together with new materials have been welded into a coherent volume.