Beginning in the middle fifties and emanating largely from M.I.T., an approach was developed to linguistic theory and to the study of the structure of particular languages that diverges in many respects from modern linguistics. Although this approach is connected to the traditional study of language, it differs enough in its general objectives and in its specific conclusions about the structure of language to warrant a name, "generative grammar," or more specifically, "transformational generative grammar." [...] The major issue of this book is to review these developments and to propose a reformulation of the theory of transformational generative grammar that takes them into account. The emphasis in this study is syntax; semantic and phonological aspects of language structure are discussed only insofar as they bear on syntactic theory.
Chomsky, Noam (1965): Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
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