Methodology of TGG

1. The Classical Theory

In this version, grammar consisted of three components:

1. The phrase structure component ( consists of phrase structure rules)
2. The transformational component ( consists of transformational rules)
3. The morphophonemic component (consists of morphophonemic rules)

The following diagram shows how the grammar outlined in this version was organised:

1.1. Phrase Structure Rules

Phrase structure rules (rewriting rules) expand the sentence (S), the largest unit of grammar into smaller units. They show the internal grammatical structures of constituents using symbols. There is always one symbol to the left of the arrow. The arrow means: “is to be rewritten as” and it has one direction. Each symbol represents a constituent. Some of these rules are categorical (they translate abstract elements into other abstract elements); others are lexical (they translate the abstract elements into concrete vocabulary items). PS rules are ordered and each one is derived from some previous one. It is possible to use a phrase marker (a diagrammatic representation) to show PS rules. It is a tree diagram which has branches (lines) and nodes (dots). One node above the other on a diagram dominates the lower node.

Rule (1) indicates that the VP contains (an) auxiliary (s) and a main verb. Other elements are possible depending on the pattern of sentences (SVO, SVC, SVOC, SVC…). The other structures of VP are related to the type of verb used (transitive, intransitive, copular). So, rule (1) can have the following forms:

               VP ------ Aux + MV + NP
               VP------- Aux + MV + Adj
               VP------- Aux + MV + NP + Adj

Rule (2) indicates that the auxiliary element contains:

• Tense (obligatory): English sentences must have a tense.
• A modal auxiliary (optional): English sentences can have mood)
• A perfect auxiliary (optional): English sentences can have a perfect aspect expressed in the auxiliary “have” which needs a past participle morpheme “en”.
•  A progressive auxiliary (English sentences can have a progressive aspect expressed in the auxiliary “be” which needs a present participle morpheme “ing”.

Rule (3) indicates that there are 2 tenses in English (present or past)
When rule (2) is used with rule (3) we can generate all possible combinations of auxiliaries with ain verbs in all active declarative sentences in English.

  Example:

1.2. Transformational Rules

Transformational rules operate on the output of PS  rules: they depend on the application of PS rules. Such rules do not involve the division of sentences into smaller units, but the alteration or rearrangement of a structure in various ways. They convert one string into another, or we say they “derive” one structure from another and assign to it another P-marker. TRs are more heterogeneous and more complex than PS rules. TRs take the following form: A+B+C+D+E --------- a+b+c+d+e (a string of elements appears on the left of the arrow, and another on the right). TRs have many types.

•  Affix hopping (affix shift/ flip-flop transformation)

This rule places affixes (endings/ inflections, like tense, en, ing )in the position to which they belong

•  Negative transformation

This rule places “not” after the tense and the first element of the auxiliary

• Yes-No question transformation

This rule takes the tense and the first element of the auxiliary and moves them to the front of the string.

•  Do-insertion transformation

This rule inserts “do” after tense in some negative and interrogative sentences.

•  The contraction transformation

This rule attaches the contracted negative (n’t) to the element that proceeds “not”. It is applied after affix hopping.

•  The passive transformation

It changes the position of NPs, adds (be+en) before the main verb and it introduces “by” in the surface structure before the second NP.

•  The particle movement (permutation)

This rule changes the place of the particle in two-constituent verbs to the right of the object.

•  Indirect object movement

This rule changes the position of the indirect object to the end of sentence and inserts “to” or “for” before it.

• The restrictive clause transformation.

This rule replaces the NP in the embedded sentence which is identical to an NP in the matrix sentence by a relative pronoun and moves it to the front of S2

•  The infinitive transformation

This rule changes S into a (to-infinitive)

1.3. Morphophonemic Rules

Morphophonemic rules are a set of rules that turn the symbols in terminal strings (the abstract morphemes) into phonological representations of their actual spoken form (strings of phonemes or actual phonetic sounds).

2. The Standard Theory

The Aspects grammar (the standard theory) was organized into three major components: the syntactic, the phonological and the semantic.

2.1. The Types of Components

The syntactic component has two components: the base and the transformational component. This organization is outlined below:

         A. Syntactic Component

                  (i) The Base

                        (a) PSG rules

                         (b) Lexicon (with rules of lexical insertion)

                  (ii) Transformational Component

        B. Semantic Component

        C. Phonological Component

In this model Chomsky added the Semantic component because meaning should have the same formal treatment as syntax. Semantics was introduced as an essential part of the grammatical analysis of a language.

2.2. The Relationship between the Components

It is possible to show the relationship between all these elements in the following diagram:

As shown in the diagram, the Syntactic Component is “generative” and the other components are “interpretive”.

The Syntactic Component generates both a surface structure and a deep structure for every sentence. How? The deep structure is the output of the Base rules of the 

Syntactic Component. The surface structure is the output of the Transformational rules of the Syntactic Component. The Base Rules are similar to PS rules of the 1957 version. In order to get the deep structure, The Base rules, in turn, use two types of rules: PS rules and the Lexicon.
PS rules and the lexicon were combined in the 1957 version in the 1st component (PSG). This combination of two operations in the same component produced deviant sentences because the individual rewriting rules could not indicate the restrictions on the choice of words.
e. g. - John frightens sincerity*.
- Colourless green ideas sleep furiously*.
- The blue girl followed a paper in a young dress*.
Phrase structure rules state the basic combinations (structures) that are permissible (i.e. they show which structures are grammatical and which are ungrammatical) using labels like N, V, and NP… They turn symbols into other symbols (categorical).
When using words in sentences a native speaker's knowledge indicates that words do not occur in the same syntactic contexts:
e. g. - John arrived
- John arrived Mary.* (no object needed)
- John ate fish.
- John takes.* (object needed)
Even words that are syntactically similar can have some restrictions according to their meanings:
e.g. - John drinks water.
- John drinks bread.* (“drink” + liquid object)
- Sincerity admires John.* (“admire” + animate subject)
The verbs in these sentences have the same syntactic features (all are transitive), but combine with different lexical items in each case.
The Lexicon inserts words from the appropriate syntactic and semantic categories to the terminal strings of PS rules. The idea of breaking down word meaning into small components (features / markers) was originally developed by Katz and Fodor (1963) in a separate semantic theory. The Lexicon provides lexical entries (or a dictionary) for all the lexical items in the language with all the information about them in the form of syntactic and semantic features (Selectional Restrictions). There are two types of selectional restrictions, introduced by Chomsky in the Aspects model, as part of the lexicon. It is possible to show them in the following diagram: