Abstract

This article aims to introduce Generative Grammar - an approach in syntactic analysis that was founded and developed by American linguist Noam Chomsky. Regarding the object of study, the article has chosen the passive construction to analyze because it is a common structure in natural languages. Specifically, the article will compare this passive construction in two languages: English and Vietnamese. In terms of theoretical framework, the article will proceed from an assumption in Generative Grammar that although each language has its distinctive features, the language acquisition mechanism, which Chomsky calls 'competence', must be similar across all languages and governed by universal rules. Besides, the article will also employ theories of Generative Grammar, including Argument movement (A-movement), Extended Projection Principle (EPP), and the system of parameters. The analyses reveal that the passive construction (S-structure) in Vietnamese can be explained as a transformation from the active construction (D-Structure), which is similar to that in English, while there are differences due to variations of parameter settings between the two languages. Those analyses will broaden the applicability of Generative Grammar for Vietnamese – a non-inflectional language.