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Unit 28: Transformational Generative Grammar

S Notes

VP
NP
V NP
PROPN AUX MV D N

TENSE

JOHN PAST OPEN THE DOOR

The result of each application of a PS rule is called a string. The PS rules for the sentences—John
opened the door—for example, generate strings as above. Each of the strings shown above is a kernel
string, and the last of them a K-terminal string since there are no further rules to apply : the K-
terminal string is the last (terminal) string of the derivation. Notice that the K-terminal string ‘John +
past + open + the + door’, though not itself a sentence, underlies the kernel sentence ‘John opened the
door’.
So Chomsky begins by making a fundamental distinction between two kinds of sentences : Kernel
sentences and transforms. Kernel sentences are the basic, elementary sentences of the language, the
stuff from which all else is made. Transforms are the ‘all else’ structures drawn from the kernel to
produce all the complications of English sentences. An English kernel sentence consists of a noun
phrase followed by a verb phrase. We indicate this with the formula S—> NP + VP. The kernel is the
part of English that is basic and fundamental. It is the heart of the grammar, the core of the language.
All the other structures of English are derivations from, or transformations of, the K-terminal strings.
For example, the sentence (ii-viii), below are the results of transformations applied to the kernel
sentence K-terminal strings of No. 1—’John opened the door’ :
1. John opened the door.
2. John did not open the door.
3. Did John open the door ?
4. Didn’t John open the door ?
5. The door was opened by John.
6. The door was not opened by John.
7. Was the door opened by John ?
8. Wasn’t the door opened by John ?
The sentences (2-8) are derived from the same underlying string. They are generated by means of
optional transformations. They differ in that (1) has had no optional transformations applied to the
underlying; (2) has had the Negative transformations applied; (3) the Interrogative; (4) the Negative
and Interrogative; (5) the Passive; (6) the Passive and Negative; (7) the Passive and Interrogative;
and (8) the Passive, Negative and Interrogative, and so on so forth.
The transformational component contains rules which can alter the kernel in various ways. Negative
Questions and passive transformations are optional; other transformations are obligatory. Such as
the ‘number’ transformation, which deals with the agreement of a noun phrase with its verb. In ‘The
door was opened by John’ the ‘number’ transformation specifies that a singular noun phrase (the
door) must be followed by a singular verb (was). Note also that transformations have to be applied in
a definite order, e.g. the number transformation must be applied after the passive transformation (for
the order of transformation).
The morphonemic component converts the output of the transformational component into a phonemic
transcription. So ‘The door was opened by John’ would become :
/ d : w z oup nd bai d3 n/
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