Syntactic Structures

by Noam Chomsky, David W. Lightfoot (Preface)

Noam Chomsky's first book on syntactic structures is one of the first serious attempts on the part of a linguist to construct within the tradition of scientific theory-construction a comprehensive theory of language which may be understood in the same sense that a chemical, biological theory is understood by experts in those fields. It is not a mere reorganization of the data into a new kind of library catalogue, nor another specualtive philosophy about the nature of man and language, but rather a rigorus explication of our intuitions about our language in terms of an overt axiom system, the theorems derivable from it, explicit results which may be compared with new data and other intuitions, all based plainly on an overt theory of the internal structure of languages; and it may well provide an opportunity for the application of explicity measures of simplicity to decide preference of one form over another form of grammar.

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Science, Psychology, Academic

135 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media.
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants (his father was William Chomsky) in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner.
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African–style apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.

Reviews

[Verba Non Res]

Chomsky no se contentó con revolucionar la historia de la lingüística una sola vez, sino que lo hizo tres veces (y, a sus 90 años, todavía está a tiempo de hacerlo una cuarta). La que produjo este libro fue sin embargo la primera revolución chomskyana, y podría argüirse que la más importante de todas. La única forma de cuantificar adecuadamente la importancia de Estructuras Sintácticas es comparándolo con las obras adánicas de otras ciencias: este libro es, para la lingüística, lo que fueron The Sceptical Chymist para la química, De revolutionibus para la astronomía, El origen de las especies para la ciencia evolutiva. Como todos estos trabajos representó, más que el avance en una determinada línea del saber, una manera enteramente nueva de comprender el fenómeno que trataba. Paradójicamente, dado su título, significó el fin (o algo así) del estructuralismo y el comienzo de todo lo demás; tanto de las corrientes propiamente chomskyanas, como de las antichomskyanas (desde 1957, hay que ser una cosa o la otra). Su influencia llegó incluso a sentirse en otros campos, como la computación y las neurociencias. Estructuras sirvió también para catapultar a Chomsky a un estrellato bastante peculiar, y que lamentablemente el autor usó para hacerse oír con respecto a temas muy fuera de su campo de expertise. Bueno, si Newton pasó los últimos dos tercios de su vida dedicándose a la alquimia y a las profecías bíblicas, bien le podemos perdonar a nuestro Chomsky sus incursiones en política internacional.

[Alejandro Ortega]

Es el comienzo. Eran otros tiempos. Es Chomsky.