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Definition: Chomsky, (Avram) Noam from Philip's Encyclopedia

US professor of linguistics. In Syntactic Structures (1957), he developed the concept of a transformational grammar, embodying his theories about the relationship between language and mind, and an underlying universal structure of language. Chomsky argued that the human capacity for language is partially innate, unlike supporters of behaviourism. His ideas greatly influenced psychologists concerned with language acquisition. Chomsky is a consistent critic of US imperialism, and his political works include American Power and the New Mandarins (1969).

Chomsky, Noam

From Theory in Social and Cultural Anthropology: An Encyclopedia
Avram Noam Chomsky (1928-) is an American linguist, anarchist, political theorist and activist, a leading thinker of our times, and, according to the New York Times , arguably the most important intellectual alive. Chomsky's approach to linguistics has become known as the Chomskyan revolution and has earned him the title of “father of modern linguistics.” Chomsky attracts both passionate disciples and antagonists. He bridges disciplines, yet some consider him extremely divisive. There is no doubt that the academic world has never been quite the same since Chomsky first published the now famous sentence “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” This entry will focus on Chomsky's contribution to linguistics, which has exerted a strong influence in other disciplines including anthropology. Noam Chomsky was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 7, 1928. He was the first of the two children of William Chomsky and Elsie Simonofsky, Lithuanian and Russian émigrés, respectively. The…
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Full text Article Noam Chomsky

From Great Thinkers A-Z
Noam Chomsky is an MIT-based linguist and cognitive psychologist whose thinking in these fields has been more influential (and controversial) than any other such body of work in recent times. He is also a prominent left-wing dissident and implacable critic of US government policy on numerous foreign…
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The abandonment of behaviourism in the second half of the 20th century was due in no small part to the vigor of the criticisms of the theories and methods of this school of psychology by Noam Chomsky. The most visible focus of his attack was a very thorough criticism of B. F. Skinner 's book on…
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Full text Article Chomsky, Noam (1928–)

From Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
MIT linguistics professor Noam Chomsky, a...
A leading linguistic theorist, libertarian socialist, and activist, Noam Chomsky has criticized U.S. foreign policy, critiqued American mass media, attacked the policies of Israel, defended the free speech of a Holocaust denier, and suggested after September 11, 2001, that the United States is a…
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Full text Article Chomsky, Noam (1928– )

From Encyclopedia of Special Education: A Reference for the Education of Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Disabilities and Other Exceptional Individuals
Noam Chomsky was born on December 7, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His undergraduate and graduate years were spent at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his BA in 1949 and his PhD in Linguistics in 1955. From 1951 to 1955, Chomsky was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard University…
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Noam Chomsky (Archive Photos, Inc.)
Noam Avram Chomsky was born in Philadelphia on December 7, 1928. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his Ph.D. in linguistics in 1955. After that year, he taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was the Institute Professor of Linguistics. Chomsky received…
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Full text Article Chomsky, (Avram) Noam (1928– )

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
US professor of linguistics and political commentator. He proposed a theory of transformational generative grammar, which attracted widespread interest because of the claims it made about the relationship between language and the mind and the universality of an underlying language structure. He has…
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US linguist and social critic. His theories revolutionized the study of language and remain controversial. In the political arena, he has criticized many aspects of US foreign policy. An obscenity, a depraved act by weak and miserable men, including all of us, who have allowed it to go on and on…
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Full text Article Chomsky, Noam (b.1928),

From Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
preeminent American linguist, philosopher, and political activist who has spent his professional career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky's best-known scientific achievement is the establishment of a rigorous and philosophically compelling foundation for the scientific study of…
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Full text Article Noam Chomsky (1928–)

From The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame
Noam Chomsky (1928–)
C redit : Associated Press/Nader Daoud I n S eptember 2006, while giving a speech at the United Nations, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela held up a copy of the Spanish edition of Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance by Noam Chomsky. Describing it as an "excellent book to help…
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Full text Article THE INTERNET

From Collins Dictionary of Quotations
The Internet is an élite organisation; most of the population of the world has never even made a phone call. CHOMSKY, Noam The Observer Review , 1996. Surfing on the Internet is like sex; everyone boasts about doing more than they actually do. But in the case of the Internet, it’s a lot more. The…
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