Travaux linguistiques de Brno
(edites par Bohumil Vykypel, Brno)


Vol. I


Unfashionable Studies on Noam Chomsky and Petr Sgall

by

Radim Sova
(Masaryk-University, Brno, Czech Republic)


So far, there has hardly been any comparison of the language theory
formulated by Petr Sgall, the Functional Generative Description (FGD) of
language, with another linguistic theory, such as would not be part of any
programmatico-theoretical context. This is equally true of the work of Noam
Chomsky, which became an important source of inspiration for Sgall. In the
present volume, the standard theory of transformational grammar (TG) and an
early version of FGD, formulated at about the same time, are compared. The
text consists of four parts. In the first and second chapters, theoretical
apparati of TG and FGD are briefly introduced, including some general
remarks. The third chapter deals with the genesis of both theories, and the
fourth chapter attempts a semiotic view of TG and FGD by looking at the way
in which both theories have grasped and described the relation between
units of linguistic form and meaning. The closing fifth chapter draws a
rough outline of future prospects that might direct further research in the
semiotic potential of other variants of TG and FGD. The monograph
represents the first volume of the new series Travaux linguistiques de
Brno, the background and aims of which are formulated in a short collective
foreword.



Muenchen
Lincom Europa
2007


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