Brief overview of the history of generative syntax

This chapter discusses the earliest generative approaches, namely, those explicated in Syntactic Structures and Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. It examines some relevant differences between these two theories. The chapter explores some general properties of transformations. It also discusses the syntax/semantics interface in early generative grammar and beyond. The chapter overviews of how phrase structure has developed from the early days of generative grammar until present. It describes the role in the evolving theories of rules and filters versus principles. The chapter deals with derivations and the derivation versus representation issue. It explains the Principles and Parameters theory, in which Chomsky explicitly introduced economy principles. Chomsky presented a revised conception of the grammar, based on an alternative way of constructing complex sentences. Chomsky claimed that the theory of transformational grammar is simplified by the change, since the notions generalized transformation and Transformation-marker are eliminated entirely.