Definition

1. Noun:
   • A formal linguistic theory: Generative grammar is a theoretical framework in linguistics that aims to model a speaker's implicit knowledge of their language. It proposes that this knowledge can be described by a finite set of explicit, formal rules that can generate (i.e., enumerate or specify) the infinite set of possible grammatical sentences in that language.
   • A system of rules: More specifically, it refers to the precise system of syntactic rules itself, which defines the structure of sentences and distinguishes grammatical from ungrammatical sequences.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Noam Chomsky's theory of generative grammar revolutionized the field of linguistics.
  • The core goal of generative grammar is to explain how children can acquire any human language with limited exposure.
  • A generative grammar for English must be able to generate complex sentences like "The cat that the dog chased ran away" but not ungrammatical strings like "Ran the away cat."

Advanced Usage

• "Principles and Parameters" framework: A major development within generative grammar theory, suggesting that universal grammatical principles are innate, with limited variations (parameters) set by experience.
  • The shift from rule-based systems to the Principles and Parameters model marked a new era in generative grammar.
• "Government and Binding" Theory: A specific and influential model of generative grammar prevalent in the 1980s.
  • His dissertation analyzed the phenomenon using the tools of Government and Binding Theory, a version of generative grammar.

Variants and Related Words

• Generative linguistics (n): The broader field of linguistic study guided by the principles of generative grammar.
  • Her work falls under the umbrella of generative linguistics.
• Transformational-generative grammar (n): An earlier, more specific term emphasizing the role of transformational rules.
  • Transformational-generative grammar introduced the concept of deep and surface structure.

Synonyms

• Formal grammar: A grammar described using precise mathematical rules.
• Universal Grammar (UG): In the Chomskyan tradition, the hypothesized innate, biological endowment that underlies generative grammar.

Related Phrases

• Generate a sentence: To use the formal rules of a grammar to produce or specify a sentence as part of its output.
  • The rules of the grammar must generate the sentence 'She might have been waiting.'
• Grammaticality judgment: A native speaker's intuition about whether a sentence is permissible, which generative grammar seeks to explain.
  • The theory is tested against native speakers' grammaticality judgments.

Related Concepts

• Competence vs. Performance: A key distinction in generative grammar between the underlying knowledge of language (competence) and its actual use in speaking/hearing (performance).
  • Generative grammar is primarily a model of a speaker's linguistic competence, not performance.
• I-language vs. E-language: Related to competence, I-language (Internal language) is the individual's internalized generative grammar, while E-language (External language) is the observed linguistic data.
  • The object of study in modern generative grammar is I-language.

Noun

1. (linguistics) a type of grammar that describes syntax in terms of a set of logical rules that can generate all and only the infinite number of grammatical sentences in a language and assigns them all the correct structural description