Generativeism and the Syntax Revolution

Generativeism, championed by Noam Chomsky, emerged as a new movement in linguistics. It challenged the behavioristic approach of previous language analysis, which focused on external behavior and processes. Chomsky proposed that linguistics should build a theory that explains language instead of analyzing data and extracting patterns. He emphasized the importance of syntax and developed a theory of generative grammar, which aims to create a computer program that generates grammatical sentences and excludes ungrammatical ones. Generativeism also introduced the concept of universal grammar, suggesting that certain aspects of language are innate. However, there has been ongoing debate about the relationship between generativeism and functionalism, which emphasizes the communicative and social aspects of language.