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摘 要：著名语言学家乔姆斯基，被誉为当代认知科学之父，为语言学发展做出了杰出贡献。然而，一些消极评价也纷至沓来。本文从其对语言学的贡献出发来探讨其个性特征，旨在展示这一伟大人物人性之辉煌与其贡献一样让世人叹服。
关键词：乔姆斯基；语言学贡献；个性特征
Abstract:Noam Chomsky, a fantastic figure in modern society, has made great contributions to the development of linguistics. However, some negative comments also come along with those positive ones. This paper discusses Chomsky in terms of both his contributions and his characters, which aims to display a clear picture to more Chomsky fans.
Key words:Chomsky;linguistic contributions;characters
On Chomsky
1. Introduction
Noam Chomsky，as one of the greatest linguists, makes a lot contributions to the research of human language and linguistics. Beginning with his Syntactic Structures, a distillation of his Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory (1955, 75), he challenges structural linguistics and introduces transformational grammar. This approach takes utterances (sequences of words) to have a syntax characterized by a formal grammar, especially a context-free grammar extended with transformational rules. However, his greatness lies not only in his great contributions, but also in his distinguished characteristics.
2. Contributions and characters of Chomsky
2.1 Courage to challenge other authorities
Chomsky had been strictly trained by post-structuralism, and he also learned a lot about traditional linguistics from his teacher Zellig Harris. During his college time, he even wrote a thesis to support Bloomfield School; however, as time went on, he gradually began to question what he has accepted from Structuralism. He tried to put forward a different concept-to separate linguistic theory from the language we actually use. The facts that people use language are so familiar that we always tend to take them for granted as not requiring explanation. But, Chomsky is different; he persists in his exploring on the study of language. In the 1950s, Chomsky began developing his theory of generative grammar, which has undergone numerous revisions and later has had a profound influence on linguistics. His approach to the study of language emphasizes "an innate set of linguistic principles shared by all humans" known as "universal grammar". He put these ideas in his Syntactic Structures, which then laid the groundwork for the concept of transformational grammar. That is why so many people admire him, and what we should learn from him.
2.2 Courage to deny self-achievements
Secondly, Chomsky is a man who is never satisfied with his own achievements and he is constantly exploring and questioning not only others' but also his own theory. After his Syntactic Structures was published, he didn't think it is an ending to his exploration, and gradually he found several serious problems which should be re-discussed and solved. According to his theory, many sentences seem to be probably transformed without much limitation and may even produce absolutely different sentences. Then, American linguists J.J.Katz and P.M.Postal pointed out that the original meaning of a sentence should not be altered after transformation and that a sentence can be analyzed from its deep structure as well as from its surface structure. Some of the transformed sentences are even not acceptable in meaning. So Chomsky realized that his theory needs improvement and he accepted others' suggestions to take the component of semantics into consideration in his transforming rules; we can see that in his Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. On the other hand, his improvement also includes the point of generative phonology，Relational Notions and Categorial Notions etc. Besides, Chomsky published Lectures on Government and Binding in 1981, which put forward the important theory of syntactic research--Government and Binding Theory, GB Theory. So far, it can be perceived as the book that has the most significant influence on the development of syntactic theory. This theory, although it is still in the process of revision and improvement, opens a new door in front of us and it directs our attention to another new field of language-that is "Empty Category". 2.3 Influences on other fields
What is also worth mentioning is about his methods of doing research and his contributions to other fields. Different from other linguists, among all the researches of Chomsky, we can easily see his distinguished characteristic--that is--he is bold in making hypotheses followed by the meticulous search for evidence. Of course, most of his hypotheses are proposed to explore those fundamental features of human languages, including his hypothesis on the structure of language which has been verified by the grammar of some languages, and his Innateness Hypothesis etc. In fact, it is because of the significance of these hypotheses to us that many scholars worship Chomsky than accept his views. Chomsky not only has a great influence on linguistics but also on many other fields, including philosophy, psychology, cognitive science etc. He is the first person who adopted the empirical method in the study of human languages, which made linguistics fall into the category of science. Furthermore, it is also his revolution on linguistics that resulted in the revolution on psychology and cognitive science. In addition, he is a political activist. He even made some comments on the relation between China and America，and he himself, as an American, openly criticized the pretended democracy of USA government when interviewed by People Weekly. From that interview, we can also sense the fact that his views on American government root in his rich theories of linguistics.
3. Conclusion
In general, Chomsky is a great figure in our times. His theory, though criticized and being criticized in the past and now, still plays a significant role in the linguistic research. He should be remembered not only as one of the fathers of modern linguistics, but also as a great philosopher, a cognitive scientist, and a political activist.
References:
[1]陈娟.对乔姆斯基的误解与再解读[J].现代传播,2012,(1).
[2]顾钢."乔姆斯基理论"四十年发展概述[J].天津师大学报,1999,(4).
[3]刘悦笛."反全球化"的知识分子乔姆斯基[J].中国图书评论,2006,(1).
作者简介：申竹英（1978.10-），女，山西太原人，山西财经大学研究生院，研究方向：教学法。
关键词：乔姆斯基；语言学贡献；个性特征
Abstract:Noam Chomsky, a fantastic figure in modern society, has made great contributions to the development of linguistics. However, some negative comments also come along with those positive ones. This paper discusses Chomsky in terms of both his contributions and his characters, which aims to display a clear picture to more Chomsky fans.
Key words:Chomsky;linguistic contributions;characters
On Chomsky
1. Introduction
Noam Chomsky，as one of the greatest linguists, makes a lot contributions to the research of human language and linguistics. Beginning with his Syntactic Structures, a distillation of his Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory (1955, 75), he challenges structural linguistics and introduces transformational grammar. This approach takes utterances (sequences of words) to have a syntax characterized by a formal grammar, especially a context-free grammar extended with transformational rules. However, his greatness lies not only in his great contributions, but also in his distinguished characteristics.
2. Contributions and characters of Chomsky
2.1 Courage to challenge other authorities
Chomsky had been strictly trained by post-structuralism, and he also learned a lot about traditional linguistics from his teacher Zellig Harris. During his college time, he even wrote a thesis to support Bloomfield School; however, as time went on, he gradually began to question what he has accepted from Structuralism. He tried to put forward a different concept-to separate linguistic theory from the language we actually use. The facts that people use language are so familiar that we always tend to take them for granted as not requiring explanation. But, Chomsky is different; he persists in his exploring on the study of language. In the 1950s, Chomsky began developing his theory of generative grammar, which has undergone numerous revisions and later has had a profound influence on linguistics. His approach to the study of language emphasizes "an innate set of linguistic principles shared by all humans" known as "universal grammar". He put these ideas in his Syntactic Structures, which then laid the groundwork for the concept of transformational grammar. That is why so many people admire him, and what we should learn from him.
2.2 Courage to deny self-achievements
Secondly, Chomsky is a man who is never satisfied with his own achievements and he is constantly exploring and questioning not only others' but also his own theory. After his Syntactic Structures was published, he didn't think it is an ending to his exploration, and gradually he found several serious problems which should be re-discussed and solved. According to his theory, many sentences seem to be probably transformed without much limitation and may even produce absolutely different sentences. Then, American linguists J.J.Katz and P.M.Postal pointed out that the original meaning of a sentence should not be altered after transformation and that a sentence can be analyzed from its deep structure as well as from its surface structure. Some of the transformed sentences are even not acceptable in meaning. So Chomsky realized that his theory needs improvement and he accepted others' suggestions to take the component of semantics into consideration in his transforming rules; we can see that in his Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. On the other hand, his improvement also includes the point of generative phonology，Relational Notions and Categorial Notions etc. Besides, Chomsky published Lectures on Government and Binding in 1981, which put forward the important theory of syntactic research--Government and Binding Theory, GB Theory. So far, it can be perceived as the book that has the most significant influence on the development of syntactic theory. This theory, although it is still in the process of revision and improvement, opens a new door in front of us and it directs our attention to another new field of language-that is "Empty Category". 2.3 Influences on other fields
What is also worth mentioning is about his methods of doing research and his contributions to other fields. Different from other linguists, among all the researches of Chomsky, we can easily see his distinguished characteristic--that is--he is bold in making hypotheses followed by the meticulous search for evidence. Of course, most of his hypotheses are proposed to explore those fundamental features of human languages, including his hypothesis on the structure of language which has been verified by the grammar of some languages, and his Innateness Hypothesis etc. In fact, it is because of the significance of these hypotheses to us that many scholars worship Chomsky than accept his views. Chomsky not only has a great influence on linguistics but also on many other fields, including philosophy, psychology, cognitive science etc. He is the first person who adopted the empirical method in the study of human languages, which made linguistics fall into the category of science. Furthermore, it is also his revolution on linguistics that resulted in the revolution on psychology and cognitive science. In addition, he is a political activist. He even made some comments on the relation between China and America，and he himself, as an American, openly criticized the pretended democracy of USA government when interviewed by People Weekly. From that interview, we can also sense the fact that his views on American government root in his rich theories of linguistics.
3. Conclusion
In general, Chomsky is a great figure in our times. His theory, though criticized and being criticized in the past and now, still plays a significant role in the linguistic research. He should be remembered not only as one of the fathers of modern linguistics, but also as a great philosopher, a cognitive scientist, and a political activist.
References:
[1]陈娟.对乔姆斯基的误解与再解读[J].现代传播,2012,(1).
[2]顾钢."乔姆斯基理论"四十年发展概述[J].天津师大学报,1999,(4).
[3]刘悦笛."反全球化"的知识分子乔姆斯基[J].中国图书评论,2006,(1).
作者简介：申竹英（1978.10-），女，山西太原人，山西财经大学研究生院，研究方向：教学法。