The abandonment of extrinsic rule ordering in generative grammar

Extrinsic rule ordering was a device used within the Standard Theory of Gen erative Grammar which determined the correct order for transformations to a pply. During the 1970s some linguists, led by Andreas Koutsoudas, showed ho w this device could be eliminated. However, the great importance of their w ork has never been recognised. The paper offers a recent example of such a lack of acknowledgement. Furthermore, it is argued why an accurate account of the abandonment of extrinsic rule ordering matters; it represents the fi rst systematic achievement in constraining the strong expressive power of t ransformations.