A key problem in the description of language structure is to explain its
contradictory properties of specificity and generality, the contrasting poles
of formulaic prescription and generative productivity. I argue that this is
possible if we accept analogy and similarity as the basic mechanisms of
structural definition. As a specific example I discuss how it would be possible
to use analogy to define a generative model of syntactic structure.Comment: 6 pages, Postscrip