Noam Chomsky studied linguistics.
Noam Chomsky . At the age of sixteen he began studies at the University of Pennsylvania , taking courses in linguistics , mathematics , and philosophy . From 1951 to 1955 he was appointed to Harvard University 's Society of Fellows , where he developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he was awarded his doctorate in 1955 . Transformational grammar ( TG ) or transformational-generative grammar ( TGG ) is , in the study of linguistics , part of the theory of generative grammar , especially of naturally evolved languages , that considers grammar to be a system of rules that generate exactly those combinations of words which form grammatical sentences in a given language .