Tomalin Marcus. Linguistics and the Formal Sciences: The Origins of Generative Grammar

Cambridge University Press, 2006. — xiii, 233 pages. — (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics). — ISBN: 0-511-14698-5.The formal sciences, particularly mathematics, have had a profound influence on the development of linguistics. This insightful overview looks at techniques that were introduced in the fields of mathematics, logic, and philosophy during the twentieth century, and explores their effect on the work of various linguists. In particular, it discusses the foundations crisis that destabilised mathematics at the start of the twentieth century, the numerous related movements which sought to respond to this crisis, and how they influenced the development of syntactic theory in the 1950s. This book provides a ground-breaking and detailed reassessment of Chomsky’s early work, and concludes by discussing the resulting major consequences for current syntactic theory. Informative and revealing, this book will be invaluable to all those working in formal linguistics, in particular those interested in its history and development.The consequences of analysis[/b]
Chapter overview
Calculus: doubts and disputes
Rigour, arithmetic, and axioms
Set theory and paradoxes
Logicism
Formalism
Intuitionism
Evangelism and pedagogy
Mathematical linguistics
Chapter overview
Axiomatics
Recursive definitions
Logical systems
Constructional system theory
Constructive nominalism
Formal linguistic theory
New directions
Systems of syntax: 1951–1955
Chapter overview
Biography and influences
Simplicity and grammar
Constructive nominalist syntax
Logic and linguistic theory
Transforming generative grammar: 1955–1957
Chapter overview
Stochastic processes and autonomous grammar
From discovery to evaluation
Constructional levels
Transforming transformations
Recursive rules
Formal syntax