Round 9: Tossup 19

This thinker developed phase theory as part of a paradigm whose basic operations are Move and Merge. (10[1])This thinker’s “normal form” (10[1])can express context-free grammars, which are nested between (10[1])context-sensitive and regular grammars (-5[1])in his namesake hierarchy. (10[1])This thinker developed the minimalist program to replace his earlier (-5[1])X-bar theory. Because children have a (10[1])“poverty of the stimulus,” this thinker argued that people have an innate capacity to understand recursive language. (10[1])This thinker’s book Syntactic Structures (10[1])discusses the sentence “colorless green (10[1])ideas sleep furiously.” For 10 points, name this MIT linguist who developed the theory of universal grammar. ■END■ (10[1])

ANSWER: Noam Chomsky [or Avram Noam Chomsky; accept Chomsky normal form; accept Chomsky hierarchy]
<Editors, Social Science> | Packet I
= Average correct buzz position

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