Minimalism

This article provides an overview of the issues that have motivated generative grammar and the changes within the specifically Chomskian line of thinking which culminates in the Minimalist Program (MP). Some of the Minimalist considerations were central to Chomsky's approach to language from the very beginning, at a time when psychology was dominated by behaviourism and linguistic studies were the property of two schools of thought. The concept I-language presents a sharp divide between construction-based and principle-based linguistics. MP, and in particular the theories integrated within the Strong Minimalist Thesis (SMT), have provided us not only with an analysis of the kind just seen but, more importantly, with the possibility for such an analysis.