Pp (Mental Grammar)

Mental Grammar‘Chomsky’s Grammar priority’

Arranged by

ErnawatiHenri RinansyahRisa Tiarazani

Vinda Agustaria

1. Introduction

Psycholinguistic involves mental grammar which is the grammar exists in our mind.

It concerns with the discussion of how we produce and understand sentences, what is the process of sentence patterns.

Chomsky’s theory is presented as the highest priority.

The Body

2. Chomsky’s competence and performance distinction

Definition of competence:The knowledge that people have of the grammar of their language. The activities involved in producing and understanding sentences are performance processes.

Major goals of psycholinguistics according to Chomsky:

1. To specify how people use competence so that they are able to produce and understand the sentences.

2. To specify how people acquire competence (grammatical knowledge).

• Aspects that should be explained in the theory of performance

1.Sentence production2.Sentence

comprehension

The relationship of competence to performance for Chomsky is that competence being a part or component of the whole which is performance.

Chomsky’s Grammatical Conceptions

Chomsky’s Grammatical Conception is one of various conceptions of mental grammar.

It is regarded as the foremost grammatical theorist.

Chomsky’s history• In 1957 his book, Syntactic Structures has

revolutionized linguistics and influenced a number of the social sciences.

• In 1960s there was the Aspects’ (Standard Theory) Grammar

• In the 1970s, the Extend Standard Theory grammar

• In the 1980s, the Government/ Binding grammar.

• In 1990s, Chomsky suggested that to abandon D-structure (deep level of structure which has been very familiar in linguistics).

1. The Standard TheoryTheory of grammar became

known as the Standard Theory (ST) which is has been revised in Government/ Binding (GB) theory.

The ST grammar consists of syntax semantic and phonological.

Four different levels of Chomsky’s Standard Theory

Sound Level (Phonetic Interpretation)

Meaning Level (semantic

Interpretation)

Deep StructureSurface Structure

The syntactic component consists of two types of syntactic rules:

1. Phrase structure Rules (base rules) provides Deep Structure

2. Transformational Rules provides Surface Structure

The various components of the grammar (Standard Theory)

1. Phrase Structure Rules, Lexicon and Deep Structure

2. Transformational rules and Surface Structure3. Phonological rules and Phonetic Interpretation4. Semantic rules and Semantic Interpretation

1. Phrase Structure Rules, Lexicon and Deep Structure

The Phrase Structure (PS) rules provide the basic constituent structure of a sentence. Essentially, they provide an analysis of a sentence into its underlying phrases which are further analysis into words and word parts.

2. Transformational rules and Surface Structure

Surface Structure is the outcome of Transformational rules operating on the Deep Structure.

Open the doorVP V + NP

D + NOpen the door

3. Phonological rules and Phonetic Interpretation

Phonetic Interpretation of the sentence is a process of Surface structure to interpret structure into a sequence of sound symbols.

‘Mares eat oats’When it spoken at a natural speed, this sentence is pronounced [merziydowts]. By the Phonological rule , the /i/ gets a ‘y’ glide, the /o/ gets a ‘w’ glide, the /t/ of eat change to /d/.

4. Semantic rules and Semantic Interpretation

In this case the Semantic rule is the Surface Structure which comes to the rules of Semantic Component to interpret the structure into meaning elements and logical relations.

‘The shoe hurts’ 1. The shoe is in some predicate condition

(the shoe may be tight)2. Some living creature is in pain

II. (GB) Chomsky’s TheoryIt was first synthesized in 1981. The conception is the underlying

relationship of syntax, meaning and sound remains the same only syntax is generative.

D-structure requires a description of the Phrase Structure and this is achieved by the X-bar syntax, an elaboration of earlier Phrase Structure syntax.

- Disagreement with the organization of his grammar where syntax is given a primary role over semantics. (This one that we will be dealt with)- Disagreement with the adequacy of his structural characterization of such basis syntactic relations and constituents, particularly Subject, Direct Object, Indirect Object and Verb Phrase.

Linguistic challenges to Chomsky’s grammar

Chomsky begins his description of grammar with the specification of syntax, a syntax which functions independently with the meaning and sound forms of the sentence being the output of that syntax.

This was strongly attacked by a Generative Semanticists in 1970s. They regarded meaning or semantics as the basis for grammatical theorizing. Logical semantic served as the conceptual starting point for grammar.

Meaning-based grammars

Lexical Semantic Representation

Surface Structure

Phonetic Representation

Transformational Rules

Lexicon

Phonological Rules

Conclusion Mental grammar is the generative grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language that other speakers can understand.There are two conceptions that

Chomsky’s notion for grammar.1. The Standard Theory 2. The Government/Binding (GB) theory of grammar