Overview

This work examines Noam Chomsky's widely accepted ontological assumptions, now referred to as “biolinguistics”—and demonstrates that they are internally inconsistent. Notably, it is shown that Chomsky himself has at least once admitted this flaw. Additionally, the volume challenges a fundamental assumption from Chomsky’s 1950s linguistic writings. This is the claim that the grammars of natural languages, particularly of English, must be constructive (proof-theoretic) devices, usually called generative grammars. It is shown that this persistent view cannot in principal account for a multitude of linguistic structures realized as perfectly natural sentences. Finally, the work scrutinizes Chomsky’s frequent assertion that “there is essentially only one language spoken on Earth,” revealing it to have no actual substance. The exposition of these flaws calls for a reassessment of fundamental aspects of generative linguistics.

Full Product Details

Author:   Paul M. Postal
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   27
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.468kg
ISBN:  

9789004730915

ISBN 10:   9004730915
Pages:   204
Publication Date:   14 August 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Editorial Foreword 1 Introduction 2 The Foundational Admission  1 Background  2 Incoherence  3 Incoherence Highlighted  4 The Admission: 1  5 The Admission: 2  6 The Analyticity Contradiction  7 Biolinguistics vs. Katz’s Platonist Conception of Natural Language  8 Natural Language and Knowledge of Natural Language  9 Ethical Issues  10 The Manufacture of Consent 3 Natural Languages Are Not Generative Systems  Part 1: Generative Beginnings  Part 2: Theoretically Ignored Sentences  Part 3: Implications 4 The One Language Claim  1 A Deceptive Claim  2 ‘Peripheral’/‘Minor’ Differences  3 Space Alien Scientist Opinion  4 Lack of Good Faith  5 Lack of Motivation  6 Conclusion 5 Conclusion References Index

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Author Information

Paul M. Postal is a Ph.D. (Yale, 1963) and a former professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a former Research Staff Member at the IBM Research Center, a former professor of linguistics at the City University of New York and a former visiting scholar at New York University. He has published or edited eighteen books and dozens of articles on linguistic topics.

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