In fact, by universal grammar I mean just that system of principles and structures that are the prerequisites for acquisition of language,… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
The syntactic component of a grammar must specify, for each sentence, a deep structure that determines its semantic interpretationand a surface structure… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
By a generative grammar I mean simply a system of rules that in some explicit and well-defined way assigns structural descriptions to… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
UG [universal grammar] may be regarded as a characterization of the genetically determined language faculty. One may think of thisfaculty as a… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
I don't know if I officially proofread my father's book, but I read it. I did get some conception of grammar in… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
It's perfectly obvious that there is some genetic factor that distinguishes humans from other animals and that it is language-specific. The theory… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
. . . among all grammars meeting this condition (of adequacy), we select the simplest. — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
Descriptive grammar is an attempt to give an account of what the current system is for either a society or an individual,… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
Hence, a generative grammar must be a system of rules that can iterate to generate an indefinitely large number of structures. This… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
The fact that all normal children acquire essentially comparable grammars of great complexity with remarkable rapidity suggests that human beings are somehow… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
I think the most important work that is going on has to do with the search for very general and abstract features… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
Syntax is the study of the principles and processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages. Syntactic investigation of a given… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
Historical grammar is a study of how, say, modern English developed from Middle English, and how that developed from Early and Old… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing? — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state. — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
There are questions as to whether it should even exist. Who should corporations be responsive to, the management of a corporation? Theoretically they are… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws.… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
The first thing you ought to do is verify what I present. Just because I say it doesn't make it true. So check it… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
I wrote an article about the marine landing [in Haiti] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion… — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image
This is class war on an international scale, and power is in the hands of those who control the international economic system. — Noam Chomsky Copy Share Image