Chomsky

Chomsky's contribution to the study of language has, over the last four decades, been enormous, and has extended a powerful influence throughout the other cognitive sciences. Language is, arguably, an even more distinctly more human characteristics than intelligence, and the thousands of different human languages are, according to Chomsky, cut to the same general pattern. This pattern is determined, he claims, by innate structuring principles which only human beings possess. Chomsky's search for the universal in language has revitalized the question of the relationship between language and mind, and has provided a powerful new tool, generative grammar, for students of language.
In this Third Edition of his superb introduction to Chomsky's work, John Lyons has added an extensive final chapter which seeks to assess the continuing ramifications of the Chomskyan Revolution in linguistics today. He has also thoroughly updated the bibliographies - both of Chomsky's own prolific output and of the multiplying secondary material - and the biographical note, in order fully to arm any prospective explorers of Chomsky's oeuvre with all the excellent resources they may need.