Beyond Generative Grammar

At the beginning of the twentieth century Ferdinand de Saussure's book A Course in General Linguistics radically changed the development of linguistics transforming it into a self-contained acceptable science in its own right. Now at the beginning of the twenty-first century the author of this book intends to update Saussure. He presents his ideas about the shape of linguistics highlighting key aspects of language as a social phenomenon. The book takes issue with the generative grammar school in favour of a 'Performativist' position: a pragmatic understanding or characterisation of language as it is performed.