Formal Definition
Chomsky's advisor, Zellig Harris, took transformations to be relations between sentences such as "I finally met this talkshow host you always detested" and simpler (kernel) sentences "I finally met this talkshow host" and "You always detested this talkshow host". Chomsky developed a formal theory of grammar where transformations manipulated not just the surface strings, but the parse tree associated to them, making transformational grammar a system of tree automata. This definition proved adequate for subsequent versions including the `extended', `revised extended', and `Government-Binding' (GB) versions of generative grammar, but may no longer be sufficient for the current minimalist grammar in that merge may require a formal definition that goes beyond the tree manipulation characteristic of Move α.
Read more about this topic: Transformational Grammar
Famous quotes containing the words formal and/or definition:
“I will not let him stir
Till I have used the approvèd means I have,
With wholesome syrups, drugs, and holy prayers,
To make of him a formal man again.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than thisdevoted and obedient. This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.”
—Florence Nightingale (18201910)