X-bar theory

"X'" redirects here. For the sound, see velar ejective fricative.
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In linguistics, X-bar theory is a model of phrase-structure grammar and a theory of syntactic category formation[1] that was first proposed by Noam Chomsky in 1970[2] reformulating the ideas of Zellig Harris (1951[3]), and further developed by Ray Jackendoff (1974,[4] 1977a,[5] 1977b[6]), along the lines of the theory of generative grammar put forth in the 1950s by Chomsky.[7][8] It attempts to capture the structure of phrasal categories with a single uniform structure called the X-bar schema, basing itself on the assumption that any phrase in natural language is an XP (X phrase) that is headed by a given syntactic category X. It played a significant role in resolving issues that phrase structure rules had, representative of which is the proliferation of grammatical rules, which is against the thesis of generative grammar.

X-bar theory was incorporated into both transformational and nontransformational theories of syntax, including government and binding theory (GB), generalized phrase structure grammar (GPSG), lexical-functional grammar (LFG), and head-driven phrase structure grammar (HPSG).[9] Although recent work in the minimalist program has largely abandoned X-bar schemata in favor of bare phrase structure approaches, the theory's central assumptions are still valid in different forms and terms in many theories of minimalist syntax.

  1. ^ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. 2014-01-01. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199675128.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-967512-8.
  2. ^ Chomsky, Noam (1970). Remarks on Nominalization. In: R. Jacobs and P. Rosenbaum (eds.) Reading in English Transformational Grammar, 184–221. Waltham: Ginn.
  3. ^ Harris, Zellig (1951). Methods in Structural Linguistics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  4. ^ Jackendoff, Ray (1974). Introduction to the X-bar Convention. Indiana University Linguistics Club.
  5. ^ Jackendoff, Ray (1977a). X-bar-Syntax: A Study of Phrase Structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  6. ^ Jackendoff, Ray (1977b) Constraints on Phrase Structure Rules, in P. W. Culicover, T. Wasow & A. Akmajian (eds.), Formal Syntax, Academic Press, New York, pp. 249–83.
  7. ^ Chomsky, Noam (1955). The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  8. ^ Chomsky, Noam (1957). Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton.
  9. ^ Müller, Stefan (2020). Grammatical theory: From transformational grammar to constraint-based approaches (4th revised and extended ed.). Language Science Press. p. 75. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3992307. ISBN 978-3-96110-273-0.