Q: Why is it called 'generative'?
A: 'generative'- to generate =
(1) to produce, (2) to specify the rules
(1) owing to our mental
grammar, when we speak / write we produce new grammatical sentences.
(2) Generative Grammar describes our mental grammar by specifying the
rules / making the hidden linguistic rules in our head explicit. It has two ways:
(a) by drawing a tree structure (Tree diagrams);
(b) by stating the Phrase Structure (PS) Rules in the form
of “re-write” rules: X à X Z
(e.g., S à NP VP)
Three
important linguistic principles
Q: What makes us able to distinguish between grammatical and ungrammatical sentences?
Q: What makes us able to distinguish between grammatical and ungrammatical sentences?
A: The
“mental grammar” or the “linguistic competence” in our mind does.
The first principle proposed by Chomsky is (1) Language is a mental fact.
How many sentences do you think you can arrange from
these words?
"saw – tigers – Wilson"
(1) *Saw tigers Wilson
(ill-formed)
(2) *Saw Wilson tigers (ill-formed)
(3) Tigers saw Wilson (unusual
meaning)
(4) *Tigers Wilson saw (ill-formed)
(5) Wilson saw tigers
(well-formed)
(6) *Wilson tigers
saw (ill-formed)
Q: Can language imitated
and produced by parrot be called a language?
A: (2) Language is innate in the
sense that every human child is endowed with the LAD (language acquisition
device). It is this LAD that makes
language acquisition possible. Note
that the LAD is species-specific, that is, only humans—but not animals—have the
LAD. Therefore, only humans—but not animals—can acquire human
language.
Q: Can you produce an English sentence/ utterance that
never be used by any other human in this surface of the earth?
A: (3) Language is creative. “linguistic
creativity” = crossing the borders / limits of linguistic rules,e.g., That’s very you; kopi banget; benci à
membencikan; to slipper the cockroach; Is this a knock-knock bird?
This can be explained in two different
ways. First, as noted above, “linguistic
creativity”
means crossing the borders/limits of the existing linguistic rules. In
addition to the examples given above, some poets are fond of “violating”
linguistic
rules, since they are entitled to “poetic license” = lisensia puitika
Anyone lived in a pretty how town
With up so floating many bells down
Spring summer autumn winter
He sang his didn’t, he danced his did.
(E. E. Cummings)
Secondly, “creativity” refers to our
every use of our language. Every time we
speak / write, we “create” new utterances/sentences.
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