A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics David Crystal

Chomskyan 75
(as opposed to young children generally) and its ambiguity (talk by babies as
well as to babies). It was replaced by motherese, and also by more general
notions such as caregiver or caretaker speech, before the present term came to
be widely used.
child language acquisition/development see acquisition (1)
choice (n.)
see binary feature, chain/choice
choice function A term used in semantics for a function which maps each
set in its domain onto a member of that set. Choice functions play an important
role in certain semantic analyses of specific indefinites.
chômeur (n.) A term used in relational grammar, derived from the French
word meaning ‘unemployed’, to refer to a nominal item which has its role in a
clause taken over (or ‘usurped’) by another nominal; abbreviated as cho. For
example, in a passive sentence, the underlying subject is seen as having its
subject function usurped by the direct object from the active sentence; as a
result, the subject of the active sentence becomes demoted into a chômeur. By
seeing such structures in terms of rules which alter relations (rather than in
terms of a transformation of one phrase-marker into another), it is hoped
that a more universal formulation of such rules will be obtained.
Chomsky-adjunction (n.) A type of syntactic operation in transformational
grammar, referring to a rule which places certain elements of structure in
adjacent positions, with the aim of specifying how these structures fit together
in larger units. To Chomsky-adjoin elements, a constituent A is adjoined to B
by creating a new B node which immediately dominates both A and B. (See
adjunction for tree diagrams.)
Chomskyan (adj./n.) Characteristic of, or a follower of, the linguistic principles
of (Avram) Noam Chomsky (b. 1928), now Institute Professor and Professor of
Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; also spelled Chomskian.
His theory of language structure known as transformational-generative
grammar revolutionized work in linguistics in 1957, with the publication
of his monograph Syntactic Structures. Later, major publications on technical
linguistic topics included Current Issues in Linguistic Theory (1964) and
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965). The latter publication introduced a new
direction into generative theory and became the orthodoxy for several years.
His main publication on phonology was The Sound Pattern of English (1968),
with Morris Halle, referred to in this dictionary as ‘Chomsky and Halle’. Later
developments in his linguistic thinking in book form may be found in Reflections
on Language (1976), Rules and Representations (1980), Knowledge of
Language (1986), Barriers (1986) and The Minimalist Program (1995).
By the mid-1960s Chomsky had come to stress the role of language as a key
means to the investigation of the human mind. The view that linguistics can
be profitably seen as a branch of cognitive psychology is argued especially in
Language and Mind (1968), and it is this aspect of his thinking which has
attracted a wide readership outside linguistics, especially among philosophers