Editing Noam Chomsky (section)

== Linguistic Revolution ==

Chomsky's linguistic work, beginning with "Syntactic Structures" (1957), revolutionized the study of language by proposing that humans possess an innate capacity for language acquisition, a "universal grammar" that underlies all human languages. This cognitive approach replaced the behavioral linguistics that had dominated the field, reorienting the discipline toward questions about mind rather than merely describing utterances. His subsequent work, including "Aspects of the Theory of Syntax" (1965) and numerous revisions of his theoretical framework, continued developing ideas whose influence extends throughout cognitive science.<ref name="barsky"/>

His technical contributions—transformational grammar, deep structure and surface structure, the minimalist program—have undergone revision and debate, as scientific theories must. But his fundamental insight—that linguistic capacity reveals something deep about human cognition—transformed not only linguistics but psychology, philosophy, and artificial intelligence. The Philadelphia childhood where his father's Hebrew scholarship had made language's structure visible had prepared him for the theoretical work his career would achieve.<ref name="smith"/>

His MIT career, spanning over six decades, has trained generations of linguists who have spread his influence throughout the field. The debate his ideas have generated—and they have generated substantial debate—confirms their significance; trivial ideas do not provoke such response. His Philadelphia origins, though distant from his Cambridge career, established the intellectual seriousness and linguistic awareness that his work has demonstrated.<ref name="barsky"/>