Question

What is the difference between generativists and structuralists ? In what ways have the generativists made advancements on structuralists ?

Answer 1

Answer:

You cannot really compare structuralist and generative linguistics directly. In broadest terms, generative linguistics is one way to study and model language structure. It is therefore a part of the broader structuralist program (see for instance F Newmeyer).

In particular, generativism shares these structuralist commitments:

•   Language as an interconnected hierarchical semiotic system
•    Distinction between competence and performance (languge/parole)
•    Meaning and function expressed through distinctive features
•    Language susceptible to syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis
•    Specific concepts such as phoneme, morpheme, lexeme
•    Language units as symbolic pairings of meaning and form
•    Linearity of language
•    Etc.

While many of the generativist approaches grew out of a critique of the structuralist orthodoxy of the time, they still stayed firmly within the broader structuralist framework. In some way, generative linguistics could be seen as a contribution to a structuralist theory of syntax.

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