O Programa Minimalista

by Noam Chomsky, Eduardo Paiva Raposo (Translator)

O Programa Minimalista é a última obra-prima de Noam Chomsky. O principiante poderá aí encontrar ideias de vasto alcance e soluções fascinantes para numerosos problemas técnicos; o linguista mais experiente, por sua vez, re-descobrirá vários tópicos já familiares. Ambos se deixarão cativar logo desde a primeira página e — é necessário dizê-lo — ficarão ao mesmo tempo entusiasmados e frustrados por este livro extremamente exigente e criativo. O texto aborda praticamente todos os assuntos que alguém jamais imaginou sobre a competência humana para a linguagem. Ao mesmo tempo, fá-lo frequentemente de maneira críptica, e de um modo demasiado rápido para tratar adequadamente o vasto leque de questões que são colocadas em cada página. Numa palavra, é uma obra de génio, com tudo o que isso implica. O público português tem agora à sua disposição esta tradução, por alguém que entendeu o Minimalismo profundamente. Neste seu trabalho, Eduardo Paiva Raposo não foi o usual tradutor-traidor; podemos mesmo dizer que a sua versão do texto vai em determinados pontos para além do original, dado o seu esforço em clarificar com coerência passagens extremamente difíceis do texto, e a quantidade de notas explicativas que inclui. Curiosamente, o trabalho crítico de Eduardo Paiva Raposo sobre o texto afectou bastante o modo como Chomsky escreveu a continuação do presente livro (o chamado «capítulo 5»). Este é certamente um facto raro ou mesmo novo na história da tradução. O público académico português pode portanto considerar-se afortunado por ser exposto a um texto tão brilhante pela mão cuidadosa e sábia de um dos seus linguistas mais conhecidos.» Juan Uriagereka Juan Uriagereka.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Language, Writing, Psychology, Academic

531 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media.
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants (his father was William Chomsky) in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner.
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African–style apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.

Reviews

[Andrew Noselli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read The Minimalist Program by Noam Chomsky this morning but, much to my displeasure, I found that I could only skim its contents on a surface level, as it was a bit over my head and much too much of a behind the scenes look at the structure of grammar for me to devote myself fully to it. I realize that is disappointing to hear, but I plan of making a note that it was "skimmed only" in my final list of readings completed in 2025. Two stars, not for its quality but for my level of endeavor.

[Steffeluren · Rating 4 out of 5]

chosmky has the world record for rejecting ideas that he himself introduced and acting like nothing happened

[Anie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a rough, rough read. The theory that grows out of this book is quite a force indeed, and for that it gets two stars instead of none; I work within a roughly minimalist sytax.

Chomsky's writing is positively painful, however, and the current work being done in minimalist syntax bears less relation to theoretical points argued for in the book than you might think. Any linguist who works in this tradition should absolutely read the book, as it is necessary; however, if you are anything like me, don't necessarily expect to enjoy yourself.

[Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Titanic work. Despite comments to the contrary, this book contains an immense amount of relevant and incisive material, chronicling and critiquing work conducted from the Government-Binding framework of the late 70s and 80s to the standard framework of linguistic inquiry that the early and modest transformative-generative formalisms in Syntactic Structures has evolved into - Minimalism, driven by a general principle of economy and stripping down notions of 'deep structure' as well as polishing everything to a mirror shine. In many ways, the core assumptions haven't changed significantly since the early days of the Markov chain grammars, but the power of the minimalist formalism continues to impress, again and again. As a student who works using these same theories, I found it immensely useful and ripe with theoretical directions to take in my own projects, often from page to page. One of my former professors sums up the minimalist experience and its impact for linguists rather elegantly with this quote: 'it used to be that work was rather straightforward and predictable until Chomsky (and various others) came in and broke everything'. Up until this point, if you are sufficiently driven, then this is all the praise you need to dive into it and to go toe-to-toe with Chomsky's theorems, especially if you are an undergrad who feels a bit disillusioned or confused by introductory syntax lectures.

The reason why this isn't a perfect score is twofold: first, Chomsky has abandoned sufficient philosophical engagement and development within the scientific inquiry of linguistics itself - he is at his most openly dogmatic here, and it consequently makes the logical structure more austere then his earlier writings. Secondly, the structure of the chapters themselves is a serious problem, that when paired with Chomsky's cold approach, contributes to an unwelcoming read. People who are unfamiliar or not as clear on things like unaccusatives, c-command, non-finite clauses or theta marking, or just generally not already clued in to the practice of transformative-generative grammar formalisms (suffice to say that whilst D-structure is stripped clean over the course of the chapters, being familiar with it and why it has been so useful on some general theoretical level is necessary) will be well within their rights to forget this text and read Aspects instead and maybe Adger's Core Syntax (if they aren't students regarding the latter - I myself found Adger to be incomplete in all of my lectures and failed to really see the mechanisms that allow us to pursue research in his overly encyclopaedic approach). The chapters are ordered so that Chomsky goes from problem to problem and framework to constraint(in the sense that he quite literally takes us on a tour of contemporary positions and deconstructs them to their most 'minimal' components), meaning that the book lacks a coherent sense of flow (until arguably the last chapter which properly deals with bare phrase structure and feature-driven operations) and acts as both a history of syntactic theories and a criticism in its own right, whilst the grand narrative, so to speak, is the case for what is outlined as a 'minimalist' and consequently 'perfect' representation of the cognitive mechanisms that derive utterances in human languages. As a result, keeping track of the various examples and developments gets difficult very fast, least of all when chapters are referenced in advance or retroactively, when so much of the argumentation is tied into a variety of phenomena. It is unsurprising that lots of work based off of these essays has been rather derivative or often conflicted, since it is so hostile and baroque a presentation. The real and dizzying depth on offer is magnificient, but Chomsky's style has undoubtedly led to unwarranted confusion for many a student and researcher, and has also likely enabled a lot of bad faith research that misses the overall logic and process of minimalism in favour of subordinating its scientific capacity for a quick publication.

For this reason I withhold a recommendation to only determined students, and suggest that unless you are really interested in the mechanics and apex of chomskys formalism, that you would be better off contributing to Adger's personal pockets instead (if memory serves correct, a recent book aiming to fill in the philosophical gaps has been published that addresses these very concerns), and to read Aspects and Syntactic Structures.

[Brent Woo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing a review for this book feels a bit like writing a review for a National Park, or a meal your mom made. It just doesn't feel right. I don't mean that the book -- both its content and presentation -- is infallible or untouchable. Chomsky's writing is difficult, but structured. Why anyone chooses endnotes over footnotes in a work not to be judged aesthetically is beyond me. Like most of Chomsky's work, I can't imagine how anyone could approach this without some sort of background or pedagogical accompanying text. Despite its purpose as introducing a new proposal, is not an introductory text. The first chapter, a review of Principles and Parameters, is a good example of this. It is somehow, at once, both skippable for the seasoned syntactician and completely unhelpful for the uninitiated.

In any case, I'll use this "review" space for my notes on the text. This book is important reading. Reading through and experiencing the theoretical history and revisions that lead to current day Minimalist theorizing is more important than the technical or concrete solutions Chomsky arrives at.

One thing stood out for me in Chapter 4: it is clearer for me now just how much "anti-Chomskyans" (using specifically that polemic term) are off the mark in a certain way -- Chomsky is NOT setting down some sort of gospel for weak-willed linguists to follow. Unfortunately there is a lot of unhelpful, ad hominem discourse in linguistics about how MP syntacticians are merely "Chomsky's followers" and following "Chomskyan dogma" that just wastes everyone's energy. Anyone who spends any time with this book will understand, sympathetic to the actual content of the Minimalist Program or not, that Chomsky is in good faith trying to discover something new. For example:

About his own proposal. "It is far from obvious that language should be like the Minimalist Program at all, which is just a research program" (p. 203)

The MP assumes word order is not part of the computational system, being simply a consequence of the fact that we have to articulate language in real-time. This means that "word order" is of, at best, secondary importance in "syntax". This is a huge conceptual departure from other syntactic frameworks (and even pre-MP transformational grammar), and causes a lot of problems in introductory graduate syntax courses. Chomsky does note: "these tacit assumptions [that linearity is a mere surface/PF effect] are far from innocent (p. 202)... assuming that UG settles the matter is hardly an innocuous step (p. 244)"

And he ends the novel with exactly the kind of positive spirit that all syntacticians should have: "[it is not unreasonable] to press [the MP] to the limits to see what can be discovered." (p. 349)

[Othman · Rating 4 out of 5]

great ideas.. but Chomsky is an awful writer.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

When ‘The Minimalist Program’ was published in 1995, I was a student of class IX. I had later heard that with this tome, Chomsky once again redefined the landscape of linguistic theory. Just as ‘Syntactic Structures’ introduced the idea of transformational grammar and ‘Aspects of the Theory of Syntax’ established the Standard Theory, ‘The Minimalist Program’ initiated an intellectual project of radical reduction — an attempt to explain the extraordinary complexity of human language through the simplest and most elegant principles possible.

‘The work is not merely a technical refinement of prior models but a philosophical reimagining of what a scientific theory of language should look like. It is at once a culmination of decades of generative inquiry and a daring new beginning….’: this is exactly what we were told in our Linguistics classes in JNU, later.

Anyways, at its essence, the Minimalist Program (MP) represents Chomsky’s attempt to ‘‘unify explanatory adequacy with biological plausibility’’. He asks a deceptively simple question: given that human language evolved as part of our biological endowment, what is the ‘minimal’ set of principles and operations required to account for its structure and use?

The guiding assumption is the so-called ‘‘Strong Minimalist Thesis (SMT)’’ — that the human language faculty is an optimal solution to interface conditions imposed by two systems: the ‘conceptual-intentional’ system (which deals with meaning and thought) and the ‘sensorimotor’ system (which handles sound and articulation).

In this elegant model, syntax serves as the computational bridge between thought and sound. Every syntactic operation, every rule, must therefore be justified as a necessary interface condition — nothing more, nothing less.

This minimalist ideal — to explain linguistic phenomena with the fewest possible assumptions — contrasts sharply with the baroque complexity of earlier generative models such as Government and Binding (GB). While GB posited numerous modules (Case Theory, Theta Theory, Bounding Theory, etc.), MP seeks to derive all these from a handful of fundamental operations.

The most central of these is ‘‘Merge’’ — a recursive operation that takes two syntactic objects and combines them into a new one. From this single combinatorial rule, Chomsky argues, the entire hierarchical structure of language can emerge. Merge, in its simplicity, embodies the minimalist spirit: infinite generative power from minimal machinery.

By positing Merge as the cornerstone of syntax, Chomsky aligns language with general principles of computational efficiency. Syntax is no longer a proliferation of arbitrary rules but the natural outcome of a recursive cognitive operation.

The recursive property of Merge — that it can apply to its own outputs — explains the unbounded creativity of human language: from a finite set of elements, speakers can generate an infinite array of expressions.

Moreover, Chomsky distinguishes between ‘‘External Merge’’ (combining distinct elements, as in basic phrase formation) and ‘‘Internal Merge’’ (re-merging an element from within the structure, producing movement). Thus, what earlier theories treated as syntactic “movement” — the displacement of elements like “what” in “What did you see?” — becomes a natural consequence of Internal Merge.

This unification of structure-building and displacement under a single operation is one of the Minimalist Program’s most elegant conceptual achievements.

Another crucial innovation in MP is the notion of ‘‘economy principles’’ — constraints that govern the derivation of sentences based on computational efficiency. Chomsky proposes that the human language faculty, like other biological systems, obeys general principles of optimization. Derivations that involve fewer steps or simpler operations are preferred; those that involve unnecessary complexity are ruled out.

This is captured in principles such as ‘‘Last Resort’’ (movement occurs only if necessary for interpretation) and ‘‘Procrastinate’’ (delay movement until required). Such economy conditions mark a shift in Chomsky’s thinking: from enumerating descriptive rules to uncovering universal computational laws that underlie all languages.

At a deeper level, ‘The Minimalist Program’ represents a philosophical shift from ‘‘descriptive adequacy to explanatory adequacy’’. Earlier models sought to describe linguistic phenomena; MP seeks to explain ‘why’ linguistic structure exists as it does.

Chomsky thus asks a series of “why” questions:

Why are syntactic operations structure-dependent?

Why does movement obey locality constraints?

Why do languages universally distinguish between argument structure and adjuncts?

His answers lie in the interaction between linguistic computation and the two interfaces. Syntax, he argues, is shaped not by cultural convention but by the biological requirement that internal thoughts must be externalized in sound (or sign) efficiently. In this light, linguistic universals are not mysterious coincidences but the logical consequences of biological design.

One of the book’s most influential ideas is the ‘‘“bare phrase structure”‘‘ model. Traditional syntactic trees distinguished between lexical categories (N, V, etc.) and phrasal projections (NP, VP). Chomsky’s minimalist reanalysis eliminates unnecessary nodes, deriving phrase structure directly from Merge operations.

This “bare” architecture dispenses with redundancy, reducing linguistic theory to its computational essentials. Similarly, MP replaces earlier notions of “D-structure” and “S-structure” (central to ‘Aspects’ and GB) with a single level of derivation that maps directly from lexical items to the interface representations: Logical Form (LF) and Phonetic Form (PF). These twin outputs correspond to meaning and sound — the endpoints of linguistic computation.

Yet, for all its elegance, ‘The Minimalist Program’ is not an easy book. It is dense, abstract, and often elliptical. Chomsky himself describes it not as a fixed theory but as a “program” — a framework for investigation rather than a closed system of rules. Its aim is to guide inquiry toward uncovering the simplest possible mechanisms compatible with linguistic facts. This openness makes MP both exciting and elusive: it is simultaneously a culmination and a provocation.

As Chomsky notes, the goal is not to describe every language-specific detail but to discover the invariant architecture of the language faculty — the “universal grammar” that underlies all human linguistic capacity.

From a broader intellectual standpoint, ‘The Minimalist Program’ deepens Chomsky’s lifelong project of connecting linguistics to the natural sciences. Just as ‘Aspects of the Theory of Syntax’ marked the birth of cognitive science, ‘The Minimalist Program’ brings linguistics closer to biology and physics by invoking principles of efficiency, economy, and design. It aligns language with the logic of natural systems — minimal mechanisms yielding maximal effect.

The minimalist perspective resonates with ideas from physics (least-action principles), computational theory (optimal algorithms), and evolutionary biology (adaptation under constraint). Chomsky thus situates linguistics within a universal framework of scientific explanation: to show that the mind’s most complex faculty — language — operates by the simplest imaginable means.

The Minimalist Program also redefines the concept of ‘‘Universal Grammar (UG)’’. In earlier formulations, UG consisted of a rich set of parameters and modules. Under MP, Chomsky drastically reduces UG to a minimal core, possibly limited to Merge and interface principles. The apparent diversity of languages arises not from an elaborate innate template but from the interaction of general cognitive principles with linguistic experience.

This “minimalist” view of UG shifts the focus from structural variation to the biological and computational constants that make language possible. For Chomsky, such parsimony is not only aesthetically satisfying but also scientifically necessary: the goal is to explain language as a product of natural law, not arbitrary design.

Despite its brilliance, ‘The Minimalist Program’ has been the subject of significant debate. Critics from functionalist and cognitive schools argue that its emphasis on formal computation ignores the communicative and pragmatic functions of language. Scholars such as William Croft, Adele Goldberg, and Michael Tomasello have suggested that language arises from usage and interaction, not from an innate syntax engine.

Others within the generative tradition have found the minimalist assumptions too radical, fearing that excessive reductionism sacrifices descriptive coverage. Even so, these critiques testify to the book’s enduring impact. Whether one embraces or resists it, ‘The Minimalist Program’ defines the agenda of modern theoretical linguistics.

The work’s implications extend far beyond linguistics. By positing that language is an optimal solution to interface conditions, Chomsky offers a model for understanding the mind itself: as a system shaped by computational efficiency and biological necessity. In philosophy, MP has influenced debates on mental representation, intentionality, and rationality.

In computer science, its recursive and hierarchical model of structure-building resonates with theories of formal grammar and generative algorithms. In evolutionary theory, Chomsky’s minimalist stance — that language evolved as a small genetic innovation yielding vast cognitive consequences — continues to provoke inquiry into the origins of human thought.

Reading ‘The Minimalist Program’ today, one is struck by its intellectual austerity — its refusal of ornament, its relentless pursuit of simplicity. Yet beneath its technical rigor lies a profound philosophical conviction: that human language, the most complex artifact of the mind, may in fact be governed by principles of breathtaking simplicity.

Chomsky’s vision is not of a chaotic system of arbitrary rules but of a crystalline architecture — minimal, elegant, and inevitable. His program seeks to uncover the grammar of the mind’s design, where beauty and necessity converge.

In retrospect, ‘The Minimalist Program’ represents both a culmination and a renewal. It distills four decades of generative inquiry into a single guiding principle — that linguistic structure is the minimal computational system capable of linking sound and meaning. In doing so, it reinvigorates the rationalist project that has animated Chomsky’s thought since the 1950s: to show that the human mind is not a blank slate but a structured, law-governed organ of knowledge. Like the great scientific theories it emulates, from Newton’s laws to Darwin’s evolution, the Minimalist Program aspires to explain complexity through simplicity — to reveal the invisible geometry beneath the apparent chaos of human language.

In sum, ‘The Minimalist Program’ is not simply a book about syntax; it is a meditation on the nature of mind, structure, and explanation. Its influence has radiated through every domain where language and thought intersect.

For the serious student of linguistics, it is a demanding read — austere, technical, uncompromising — but also exhilarating.

It asks nothing less than the most minimalist of all questions: what, at the core, makes language possible?

And in pursuing that question with relentless precision, Noam Chomsky once again transformed our understanding of what it means to know, to speak, and to think.

[Ava Huang · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a super rough read. I had to constantly refer to outside notes and explanations. I feel like Chomsky is the one person right now whose thoughts/theories/whatever I'm really emotionally invested in understanding so I really tried to make it through but the writing in this book is truly incredibly opaque and painful.

[tshering y dorji · Rating 5 out of 5]

my life was never the same again

[Alexandre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Não recomendo a tradução portuguesa. O facto de o tradutor ter mantido as siglas dos termos em inglês apesar de os ter traduzido pelos seus equivalentes já aceites no momento causa uma confusão tremenda na sua leitura, tendo em conta que o livro em si já é bastante pesado e complicado. Contudo, é uma excelente fonte para quem estuda linguística e, principalmente, é até uma fonte bastante acessível para qualquer tipo de trabalho relacionado com sintaxe e semântica. Não dou 4* por causa da tradução, apenas.

[People say my name should be Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not commenting on the theory, I'm commenting on the writing. The book presents itself as an overview of the Minimalist Program, but actually assumes an education in formal linguistics. David Adger's "Core Syntax" is a much better introduction.

[Sancho San]

Good