John Frederick Bailyn – Stony Brook University

Where it all began: Introduction to “Syntactic Structures“ (all levels)

This course is an introduction to the foundational findings and concepts of the generative approach to the syntax of natural languages, based on Noam Chomsky’s thin but seminal 1957 book Syntactic Structures. We will look at Chomsky’s original arguments in Syntactic Structures for Phrase Structure Rules and Transformations and how the “Standard Theory” system worked.  We will take close note of what aspects of Syntactic Structures have remained central to generative grammar and which have been superseded. The discussion will focus in particular on the English auxiliary system, and the rules of Affix Hopping and do-support.