Key Concepts in Transformational
Key Concepts in Transformational
Key Concepts in Transformational
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Chris Adetuyi
Lead City University
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ABSTRACT
The paper delves into the concept of transformational generative grammar (TG) with the
intention of providing necessary information for students and teachers of English Language
on the concept. Ample information is provided on the meaning of grammar, grammatical
theory and TG itself. Key concepts in the theory like: phrase structure rules, transformational
structure rules. Morphophonemic rules: context-free rules, context sensitive rules, sub
categorization rules, complex symbol and category symbols are carefully explained. The
paper is concluded with a brief discussion of the theory and an assertion that a sound
knowledge of grammatical theories provides scientific bases for the strategies and
methodologies usually employed in the modern language classroom. Based on this, it is
recommended that seminars and workshops be provided for the teachers on grammatical
theories like in other aspects of the language. It is also recommended that simplified
textbooks on grammatical theories be made available in schools and that English language
teacher should afford themselves the opportunities of self-development training and refresher
courses in the area of grammatical theories.
Key words: Transformational, Generative, Phrase structure, Morphophonemic context-free,
Context sensitive, Sub-categorization, Complex symbol.
INTRODUCTION
Grammar, broadly speaking, is concerned not just with the principle which determine
the formation of words, Phrases and sentences, but also with the principles which govern it
interpretation (Radford 2002). Thus, it is obvious that the concept of grammar is central to
any form of language study.
In the beginning, English grammar was designed to provide basis for the teaching and
learning of Latin which was then the most prestigious language. This idea did not provide the
expected positive results as it led to the concept of prescriptive grammar and the problems of
inconsistency of form and standard even in the study of English as a language. Arising from
these, some scholars met and decided to study English grammar from three area of focus to
solve the problem: codifying the principles of the language and reducing them to rules;
settling disputed points and deciding cases of divided usage; and pointing out common errors
or what were supposed to be errors and thus correct and improve the language (Lamidi 2000).
This decision was the beginning of grammatical theories as it paved way for the
concept of traditional grammar which was the basis for other grammatical theories. Notable
grammatical theories emanated, thereafter, include: constituent structure grammar,
Transformational generative grammar, tagmemics grammar, systemic grammar etc. All these
grammatical theories led to the rapid development of English language both at home and in
diaspora. And because the formal development of many language, especially, in Africa is
tailored along the structure of English language, the knowledge of the grammatical theories is
not only essential for language teachers but equally necessary for effective delivery of the
lesson contents in the modern language classroom. This is because most of the pedagogical
strategies for language teaching and learning are anchored in these grammatical theories. For
this reason, presentation of conference and seminar papers on the key concepts of these
theories will remain relevant academic exercises for some times to come.
(2014) citing Adekoya (2010) that there is no solution to the problem of misteaching of
English language other them retraining teachers through improving English language
curriculum. If this is done, it will go a long way to alleviate the teaching of English language
in Nigerian classrooms and thereby improve the standard of education in the country.
Sentence
NP + VP
T + N + VP
T + N + Verb + NP
The + N + Verb + NP
The + man + verb + NP
The + man + lost + T + N
The + man +lost + the + N
The + man + lost + the + money
In the above example, every line is referred to as string while the last line that could
not be rewritten again is called the terminal string. The constituent structure of the same
sentence can be shown in a diagram or phrase maker like this:
Sentence
NP VP
T N Verb NP
The Money
Adopted from Tomori (1997)
The main limitations of phrase structure rules are that while they can describe the
overt syntactic structures of most utterances, they cannot make explicit the rules underlying
the formation of the sentences and they cannot put the rules in the proper order in which they
are applied to produce well formed sentences.
3. Morphophonemic Rules
This is the last level of transformational grammar and it is the level of TG that
converts the string of morphemes comprising a terminal string into the sounds of the
language. For example, go + past = went, product +tion = production. The rules that govern
the phonetic realization of morphemes are morphophonemic rules.
7. Complex Symbol
This is defined as a collection of features peculiar to the particular linguistic item in
its occurrence in utterances of the language.
8. Category Symbols
These are symbols which define the grammatical classes of linguistic items. Symbols
like NP and VP are in this category.
English language. But if we take another sentence like „He wept’ we can see that the
rewriting rule of this sentence is NP + VP. The „wept‟ used in the second sentence is one of
the intransitive verbs in English language and it cannot take any object.
Therefore, Chomsky‟s stick sub-categorization rules are meant to show what verb can
collocate in what sentence pattern while the features of co-occurrence of different NP with
VPs are specified in the „selectional rules‟. To explain this further, Chomsky equally
introduced the concept of complex symbol. This is defined as a collection of features (that
are) peculiar to the particular linguistic item in its occurrence in utterances of the language
(Tomori 1997).
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