The minimalist program is a linguistic theory proposed by the American linguist N. Chomsky to explain those linguistic phenomena whose mechanisms were not fully clarified in the framework of the theory of principles and parameters . The Minimalist program itself contains a number of strong statements regarding universal grammar , as well as some hypotheses about the structure of the cognitive system in connection with an innate linguistic ability . The main methodological principle of the Minimalist program is to reduce the number of levels in grammar, which significantly distinguishes this theory from previous versions of generative grammar ( PG ). The generation mechanism is modified: the process is no longer conceived as a record at the level of the D-structure ( deep structure ), and then a transition through transformation to the level of the S-structure ( surface structure ), where its correctness is evaluated in accordance with the rules of grammar. Instead of all this, a derivation model is proposed that characterizes the structure of the sentence as a sequence of steps for constructing it from simpler fragments, and each step can be evaluated as admissible or inadmissible.
In addition to N. Chomsky, many linguists from the USA , Europe and Asia took part in the development of this theory. A significant role in the formation of the concept of the Minimalist program was played by G. Lasnik , T. Reinhart , R. Kane , G. Cinque , J.-I. Pollock , C. Wexler , A. Belleti , M. Saito, and others.
The formation of the methodology and basic principles of the Minimalist program began in the late 1980s and is associated with the important work of the French linguist Jean-Yves Pollock, in which the theory of verbal movement was proposed. The first work, which fully set forth all the principles of the Program, was Chomsky's book Minimalist Program, published in 1995 . The development of the program continues to this day. The minimalist program had a huge impact on all formal and functionalist linguistics, cognitive sciences, anthropology , etc.
The origins and motives of creation
The focus of linguistic theories of the first half of the 20th century was the Saussure language ( langue ), a social object whose possession of individual speakers is only partial. Since the 1950s Chomsky’s generative grammar has shifted the direction of linguistic research to the system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers, as well as to linguistic ability, the ability to master and use some natural language. The ultimate goal of linguistics in this approach was defined as the ability to characterize one of the central components of human nature, defined in a biological context - an innate linguistic ability .
Chomsky pointed out that the idea of focusing on language ability is not new; its roots go back to the position of classical rationalism , which consists in the fact that to study the language means to penetrate the “mirror of the mind” . Chomsky himself calls the change of perspective “the second cognitive revolution”, thereby paying tribute to ideas about language and reason in philosophy and science of the 17th - 19th centuries. , especially Cartesianism , the grammar of Por-Royal and the studies of W. Humboldt . The new in this revolution is a much deeper interpretation of the innate linguistic ability and the adaptation of the latter to what we know about the brain and the organization of our cognitive abilities from neurobiology and psychology , as well as the study of language using formal logical and mathematical models that can capture essential facts related to human language.
One of these basic facts is the ability of a native speaker, constantly encountering expressions that he has never heard, to produce and understand these expressions without much effort. This may seem trivial, but in the classical approach to the language, this feature as a whole remained without explanation. We find a number of interesting remarks in this regard in the Course of General Linguistics by Ferdinand de Saussure . First, it is stated that “a typical manifestation of a syntagma is a sentence , and it belongs to speech, not to language,” and immediately after this passage, speech is defined as “an individual act of will and mind in which the speaker uses the language code to express his thoughts”. And further: “all types of syntagms that are built according to certain rules must be attributed to language, and not to speech.” Thus, it clearly follows from the content of the “Course ...” that the syntax lies between language and speech: “But we must admit that in the field of syntagmas there is no sharp boundary between the fact of language and the fact of speech, depending on individual freedom”. The reasons for Saussure’s doubts are clear: the regular nature of the syntax is obvious, but, on the other hand, the linguist of the beginning of the 20th century did not yet have a method to express the whole variety of “construction rules” allowed by the grammar of a natural language.
Early forms of generative grammar using formal methods showed that the regularity and unlimited syntax of a natural language can be expressed by precise grammatical models endowed with recursive procedures. Knowing the language is tantamount to owning a recursive generative procedure. If we say that we freely choose a generated structure that is consistent with our communicative intentions, then we say that this is a free act of speech in the Saussure sense, however, the initial procedure that defines possible models of construction is subject to strict rules. The formal definition of the recursive property of the natural language syntax has undergone significant modifications: from the hypothesis that generalized transformations form complex structures step by step, starting from the deep structures of the simplest sentences, to recursive systems of immediate components capable of producing deep structures of unlimited length ( X'-theory ), and finally to the minimalist idea that the base syntactic operation merge ( «concatenate") by recursive pairwise stringing elements, each again forming a third element is the projection of one of the two components. The fundamental intuitive thesis itself remains unchanged: natural languages include recursive generative procedures.
Literature
- Saussure F. de. Proceedings in linguistics. - M .: Progress, 1977.
- Chomsky, Noam. Cartesian Linguistics. A Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought. - New York: Harper and Row, 1965. (Reprint); Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1986.
- Chomsky, Noam. On nature and language. - Cambridge, Ma: MIT Press, 2002.
- Chomsky, Noam. The minimalist program. - Cambridge, Ma: MIT Press, 1995.
- Graffi, J. La sintassi tra ottocento e novecento. - Bologna: II Milano, 1991.
- Jackendoff, RX Syntax: A study of Phrase structure. - Cambridge, Ma: MIT Press, 1995.
- Katz J., Postal P. An integrated Theory of Linguistic Descriptions. - Cambridge, Ma: MIT Press, 1964.
- Lasnik, Howard. Remarks on coreference // Linguistic Analysis, 1976. - pp. 1–22.
- Lasnik, Howard. Essay on Anaphora. - Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1989.