Generative Grammar and the Faculty of Language: Insights, Questions, and Challenges

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of what we take to be the key current issues in the field of Generative Grammar, the study of the human Faculty of Language. We discuss some of the insights this approach to language has produced, including substantial achievements in the understanding of basic properties of language and its interactions with interfacing systems. This progress in turn gives rise to new research questions, many of which could not even be coherently formulated until recently. We highlight some of the most pressing outstanding challenges, in the hope of inspiring future research.