| American linguist and public figure Date of Birth: 07.12.1928 Country: USA |
Noam Avram Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, and political activist. His father, William Chomsky, was a respected Hebrew scholar who emigrated from Russia to the United States in 1913.
Chomsky enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in 1945 to study linguistics, mathematics, and philosophy. His academic mentor, Zellig Harris, had a significant influence on his intellectual development. Chomsky's political views, like Harris's, were shaped by an affinity for anarchism.
Chomsky's seminal work, "Syntactic Structures" (1957), revolutionized the field of linguistics. In this book, he introduced the theory of generative grammar, which became known as generativism.
Generativism views language as a generative device that enables speakers to create an infinite number of well-formed sentences from a finite set of grammatical rules. It proposes that sentences have two levels of structure: deep and surface. Deep structures are abstract and hidden, while surface structures are observable and correspond to actual utterances.
Standard Theory Syntax, based on "Syntactic Structures," introduced the concept of transformations that convert deep structures into surface structures.
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965) introduced a semantic component, including rules of semantic interpretation.
Extended Standard Theory, or "lexicalism," integrated lexical items and expanded the semantic component.
GB-Theory replaced specific rules for syntax with universal constraints and a single movement transformation.
It divided grammar into modular components (X-bar theory, binding theory, government theory, case theory, Theta-theory), each with its own set of principles and parameters.
The Minimalist Program emphasizes the minimization of linguistic representations and their interaction with other cognitive systems.
It posits a core lexicon and a computational system interconnected by phonetic and logical interfaces.
Chomsky's generative theory has had a profound impact on formal grammars, computational linguistics, and cognitive science. His work marked a radical departure from behaviorism, leading him to be recognized as the "gravedigger of behaviorism."
Chomsky's theory has been widely debated, but it remains a cornerstone of modern linguistics. Its influence is seen in its application to natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and the study of language acquisition.
Chomsky is also an outspoken political activist. His criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, domestic surveillance, and the role of the media have gained international recognition.
During the Vietnam War, Chomsky participated in anti-war protests and was arrested. His writings on social issues, such as "American Power and the New Mandarins" (1969) and "Year 501: The Conquest Continues" (1993), have garnered significant attention.
Noam Chomsky is a towering figure in linguistics and political activism. His pioneering work in generative grammar has revolutionized the field of language study. As a public intellectual, his fearless critiques of power and manipulation have made him a respected voice in global affairs.