In the second half of the 20c, ancient practice has gained fresh impetus through the work of Noam Chomsky. The use of quasi-logical symbols such as S for sentence, NP for noun phrase, and VP for verb phrase, to sustain the analysis of such sentences. Logical transformations performed on strings of symbols so as to produce further strings. Such an approach has often been taken to be a break with the past, but is rooted in more than two millennia of logical and grammatical systembuilding. It remains a matter of debate whether natural language can be handled by linguistic theories that derive in the main from or are closely associated with aspects of formal logic.
Natural language is a neural mechanism, apparently the result of genetic and social evolution.
While it is sometimes regular, logical, and precise, it is as often irregular, non-logical, and imprecise, and oftener still a mix of the two. It blends intellect with instinct, logic with inspiration, and the standard with the varied. Logic is closely associated with language and with its description and discussion in literate societies. As such, it is an essential tool, but one cannot deduce from this usefulness that it is the sole or even primary means by which natural language can be understood. The Oxford Companion to the English Language 2.