The Minimalist Program and its New Insight to the Concept of Universal Grammar

Abstract

The prime concern of this paper is to introduce the art of the Minimalist Program to the theory of grammar. Besides presenting the basic principles and techniques that make this new theory moving away from the over-generation and filtering character of its predecessors, this paper discusses some new ideas articulated recently by Chomsky such as changing the function of movement and the Extended Projection Principle (EPP) feature, or proposing new theories such as Phases and Feature Inheritance. These new generative ideas can express the sharp contrast between the conceptions of Universal Grammar in the Minimalist Program and the previous generative theories.