Editing Generative grammar (section)

=== Explicitness and generality ===

Generative grammar proposes models of language consisting of explicit rule systems, which make testable [[falsifiability|falsifiable]] predictions. This is different from [[traditional grammar]] where grammatical patterns are often described more loosely.<ref name ="WasowHandbookExpGen">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Generative Grammar|encyclopedia=The Handbook of Linguistics|year=2003|last=Wasow|first=Thomas|author-link=Tom Wasow|editor-last1=Aronoff|editor-first1=Mark|editor-last2=Ress-Miller|editor-first2=Janie|publisher= Blackwell|url=https://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Content_store/WWW_Content/9780631204978/12.pdf|doi=10.1002/9780470756409.ch12|pages=298-300}}</ref><ref name = "AdgerExpGen">{{cite book|last=Adger|first=David|author-link=David Adger|year=2003|title=Core syntax: A minimalist approach|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=14-15|isbn=978-0199243709}}</ref> These models are intended to be parsimonious, capturing generalizations in the data with as few rules as possible. For example, because English [[imperative mood|imperative]] [[tag questions]] obey the same restrictions that second person [[future tense|future]] [[declarative mood|declarative]] tags do, [[Paul Postal]] proposed that the two constructions are derived from the same underlying structure. By adopting this hypothesis, he was able to capture the restrictions on tags with a single rule. This kind of reasoning is commonplace in generative research.<ref name ="WasowHandbookExpGen"/>

Particular theories within generative grammar have been expressed using a variety of [[formal system]]s, many of which are modifications or extensions of [[context free grammars]].<ref name ="WasowHandbookExpGen"/>