Al Farabi's linguistic theory and Chomsky: A comparative study

For thousands of years, the search for the origin of human language has been a quest for everyone concerned with human sciences. The science of linguistics with its interrelated research areas remains a rich field for studies which initiate debates among philosophers and linguists. The Muslim Turk philosopher; Abu Nasr Al Farabi (260-339 AH) and the comtemporary American Linguist Noam Chomsky (1928- ) are iconic names in that field. This study will highlight both their work in the field of linguistics, comparing their contributions. The study embarks on the origin of the human language from the perspective of Islamic Philosophy represented in Farabi. The study falls into an Introduction and three chapters. In the introduction, we aims at providing information about the importance of the thesis topic, the hypothesis it questions and the techniques used throughout the research. In chapter one, we attempt to investigate the valuable contributions of Farabi to the field of human language 'Lisan' and its corelation to 'Logic'. Farabi's work on the classification of sciences, language and logic and the possibility of having a universal grammar in all human languages have been examined. In chapter two, the work of Chomsky has been carefully examined; especially his work on Universal Grammar UG; supporting the innateness of human languages. Debates for and against the theory have been reviewed in the fınal part of the chapter to offer an objective evaluation. Chapter three attempts to find the hidden connection between the two seemignly far, yet after closer investigation, the very much related two philosophers. The findings of the research are registered in the concluding lines of this chapter. This thesis has attempted to combine both Eastern and Western perspectives, literature and philosophical and linguistic theories from the two cultures. The reseracher has put an effort to combine knowledge of the Arabic, English and Turkish languages to broaden the scope of the research and its resources. Keywords: Language, Islamic Philosophy, Linguistics, Farabi, Chomsky, Universal Grammar, Logic.