Definition:
In transformational grammar, the outward form of a sentence. In contrast to deep structure
(an abstract representation of a sentence), surface structure
corresponds to the version of a sentence that can be spoken and heard.
In transformational grammar, deep structures are generated by phrase-structure rules, and surface structures are derived from deep structures by a series of transformations.
Examples and Observations:
- "The surface structure of a sentence is the final stage in the syntactic representation of a sentence, which provides the input to the phonological component of the grammar,
and which thus most closely corresponds to the structure of the
sentence we articulate and hear. . . . This two-level conception of
grammatical structure is still widely held, though it has been much
criticized in recent generative studies. An alternative conception is to
relate surface structure directly to a semantic
level of representation, bypassing deep structure altogether. . . . The
term 'surface grammar' is sometimes used as an informal term for the
superficial properties of the sentence."
(David Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 4th ed. Blackwell, 1997) - "[T]he generative grammar of a language specifies an infinite set of structural descriptions, each of which contains a deep structure, a surface structure, a phonetic representation, a semantic
representation, and other formal structures. The rules relating deep
and surface structures--the so-called 'grammatical
transformations'--have been investigated in some detail, and are fairly
well understood. The rules that relate surface structures and phonetic
representations are also reasonably well understood (though I do not
want to imply that the matter is beyond dispute: far from it). It seems
that both deep and surface structures enter into the determination of
meaning. Deep structure provides the grammatical relations of
predication, modification, and so on, that enter into the determination
of meaning. On the other hand, it appears that matters of focus and
presupposition, topic and comment, the scope of logical elements, and
pronominal reference are determined, in part at least, by surface
structure. The rules that relate syntactic structures to representations
of meaning are not at all well understood. In fact, the notion of
'representation of meaning' or 'semantic representation' is itself
highly controversial. It is not clear at all that it is possible to
distinguish sharply between the contribution of grammar to the
determination of meaning, and the contribution of so-called 'pragmatic
considerations,' questions of fact and belief and context of utterance."
(Noam Chomsky, lecture given in January 1969 at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Rpt. in Language and Mind, 3rd ed. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006) - "A deep structure is . . . the underlying form of a sentence, before rules like auxiliary inversion and wh-fronting apply. After all raisings apply, plus relevant morphological and phonological rules (as for forms of do), the result . . . is the linear, concrete, surface structure of sentences, ready to be given phonetic form."
(Grover Hudson, Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell, 2000)
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