The generative grammar and transformationnelle is a syntactic theory fitting in the current of the generative Linguistique. Mainly presents in North America, it developed since 1957 pennies the impulse of Noam Chomsky. This theory tries to characterize the knowledge of the language which allows the effective act of the speaker-listener.

The generative grammar is based on the distinction competence - performance (knowledge which the speaker-listener has of his language versus the actual employment of the language in concrete situations). Although Chomsky rejects the definition of Langue of Saussure, this distinction is connected somewhat with that of language - word of this dernier.

Definition

According to Noam Chomsky:

" the grammar of a language proposes to be a description of the intrinsic competence of the ideal speaker-listener. If grammar is, moreover, perfectly clarifies (in other words, if it does not make simply confidence with the comprehension of the intelligent reader, but provides an explicit analysis of the activity whom he deploys), we can, not without redundancy, to call it generative grammar. "

(drawn from the translation: Aspects of the syntactic theory of A. Noam Chomsky)

Thus, the generative grammar

• wants to be explanatory in the direction where it must seek to include/understand the organization of the cognitive system making it possible to the speaker-listener to formulate an infinite whole of sentences.
• carries its observation not on the production (performance) as such, but on the mechanisms allowing the construction of these statements (competence). Thus, it tries to explain the rules which the speaker observes in an intuitive way.

Theoretical contributions

Superficial structure and underlying structure

In order to give an account of the distinction competence-performance, Noam Chomsky proposes an organization of the language in two levels. The superficial structure (in English: surface structure ) corresponds to the performance, i.e. at the phonological level (in other words, with the produced statement). According to the generative theory, this level which determines interpretation Sémantique, is the result of complex operations or transformations starting from the underlying structure English (: deep structure ).

Rewriting rules

The rewriting rules correspond to the transformations operated in the underlying structure. The majority of these rules correspond to semantic displacements of items bringing the good formation of a statement. For example, they make it possible to explain why certain elements of the sentence change position in particular contexts (liability for example).
Example: John follows the cat versus the cat is followed by John .

Universals of form and substance

According to the Axiom of the generative theory, each speaker shares a tacit knowledge of certain linguistic universals which enable him to learn its native tongue. However, the languages vary from/to each other and from one speaker to another. In other words, syntax is composed by universals and variables.
The consequence of this observation brings a paramount question:

" Of which initial assumptions on the nature of the language the child does it leave to make his linguistic training? Which is the degree of specification and detail of the innate diagram (general standard of a " grammaire") who becomes gradually more explicit and differentiated, as the child learns his language? "

(drawn from the translation: Aspects of the syntactic theory of A. Noam Chomsky)

According to Noam Chomsky, it is necessary to classify the linguistic universals in two categories:

• the theory of the universals of substance (traditionally studied by general linguistics) affirms that each particular element of a language must come from a system particular to the direction where it is a derivative. For example, one can quote the theory of Jakobson according to which any phonetic element product is characterized by phonetic features universals characterizing the physical elements of our articulatory system.
• the theory of the universals of form deals with the more abstract nature of grammar such as for example the assumptions of the transformations. In fact, this theoretical part tries to include/understand the complete process of the production and linguistic comprehension (i.e. level of the thought up to the level of the produced statement).

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