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The Linguistics Wars

This book centers on a key rupture in the field of linguistics as a hegemony by the theories of Noam Chomsky appeared to be taking hold, a rupture in the 1960s that began a flowering of alternate approaches to Chomsky's framework, but also reoriented his framework markedly. The rupture was between Generative Semantics, which pushed to include more and more meaning in linguistic theory, and Interpretive Semantics, which resisted that push, putting more and more weight on syntactic structure. But in many ways the dispute can be reduced to George Lakoff, the most prominent voice on the more-meaning side, and Chomsky on the more-syntax side. Chomsky is a big personality, quiet and understated but always gesturing at monumental, revolutionary implications for his ideas, and always bringing great numbers of linguists along with him whenever he chases after those implications, stirring up psychology, philosophy, computer science, and other fields in the bargain. Lakoff is also big personality, anything but quiet or understated, equally comfortable gesturing at grand revolutions, equally happy to stir things up. They drive the story, but the story is about theories, data, and various technical developments, set among social currents that range from military industrial politics to the counterculture. All of these factors show up in the book, with a cast of other remarkable and influential characters. Noam Chomsky is unquestionably the most influential linguist of the twentieth century—many people claim of any century—whose work and personal imprint remains powerfully relevant today, so the book culminates with an analysis of Chomsky’s influence and legacy.