deep structure

(transformational
grammar)
By Richard Nordquist
Grammar & Composition Expert

Linguistics
Grammar
Noam Chomsky
English Language Grammar
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Sentence Structure

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Definition:
In transformational grammar, the underlying syntactic structure (or level) of a
sentence. In contrast to surface structure (the outward form of a sentence),

deep structure is an abstract representation that identifies the ways a sentence

can be analyzed and interpreted.
In transformational grammar, deep structures are generated byphrase-structure
rules, and surface structures are derived from deep structures by a series
of transformations.
Linguistics
Grammar
Noam Chomsky
English Language Grammar
Sentence Grammar Checker
(See Examples and Observations, below.)
See also:
Case Grammar
Chomskyan Linguistics
Generative Grammar
Kernel Sentence
Linguistic Competence
Linguistic Performance
Relational Grammar
Surface Structure
Ten Types of Grammar
Transformational Grammar

Examples and Observations:

"[Noam] Chomsky had identified a basic grammatical structure
in Syntactic Structures[1957] that he referred to as kernel sentences. Reflecting mentalese,
kernel sentences were where words and meaning first appeared in the complex cognitive
process that resulted in an utterance. In [Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, 1965], Chomsky
abandoned the notion of kernel sentences and identified the underlying constituents of
sentences as deep structure. The deep structure was versatile insofar as it accounted for
meaning and provided the basis for transformations that turned deep structure into surface
structure, which represented what we actually hear or read. Transformation rules, therefore,
connected deep structure and surface structure, meaning and syntax."
(James D. Williams, The Teacher's Grammar Book. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1999)
Ads
Evolving Perspectives on Deep Structure
"The remarkable first chapter of Noam Chomsky's Aspects of the Theory of Syntax(1965)
set the agenda for everything that has happened in generative linguistics since. Three
theoretical pillars support the enterprise: mentalism, combinatoriality, andacquisition. . . .
"A fourth major point of Aspects, and the one that attracted most attention from the wider

public, concerned the notion of Deep Structure. A basic claim of the 1965 version of
generative grammar was that in addition to the surface form of sentences (the form we
hear), there is another level of syntactic structure, called Deep Structure, which expresses
underlying syntactic regularities of sentences. For instance, a passive sentence like (1a)
was claimed to have a Deep Structure in which the noun phrases are in the order of the
corresponding active (1b):
(1a) The bear was chased by the lion.
(1b) The lion chased the bear.
Similarly, a question such as (2a) was claimed to have a Deep Structure closely
resembling that of the corresponding declarative (2b):
(2a) Which martini did Harry drink?
(2b) Harry drank that martini.
. . . Following a hypothesis first proposed by Katz and Postal (1964), Aspects made
the striking claim that the relevant level of syntax for determining meaning is
Deep Structure.
"In its weakest version, this claim was only that regularities of meaning are most
directly encoded in Deep Structure, and this can be seen in (1) and (2).
However, the claim was sometimes taken to imply much more: that Deep
Structure is meaning, an interpretation that Chomsky did not at first discourage.
And this was the part of generative linguistics that got everyone really excited-for if the techniques of transformational grammar could lead us to meaning, we
would be in a position to uncover the nature of human thought. . . .
"When the dust of the ensuing 'linguistic wars' cleared around 1973 . . .,
Chomsky had won (as usual)--but with a twist: he no longer claimed that Deep
Structure was the sole level that determines meaning (Chomsky 1972). Then,
with the battle over, he turned his attention, not to meaning, but to relatively
technical constraints on movement transformations (e.g. Chomsky 1973,
1977)."
(Ray Jackendoff, Language, Consciousness, Culture: Essays on Mental
Structure. MIT Press, 2007)

Surface Structure and Deep Structure in a Sentence by Joseph

Conrad
"[Consider] the final sentence of [Joseph Conrad's short story] 'The Secret Sharer':
Walking to the taffrail, I was in time to make out, on the very edge of a darkness
thrown by a towering black mass like the very gateway of Erebus--yes, I was in
time to catch an evanescent glimpse of my white hat left behind to mark the
spot where the secret sharer of my cabin and of my thoughts, as though he

were my second self, had lowered himself into the water to take his punishment:
a free man, a proud swimmer striking out for a new destiny.
I hope others will agree that the sentence justly represents its author: that it
portrays a mind energetically stretching to subdue a dazzling
experience outside the self, in a way that has innumerable counterparts
elsewhere. How does scrutiny of the deep structuresupport this intuition? First,
notice a matter of emphasis, of rhetoric. The matrix sentence, which lends a
surface form to the whole, is '# S # I was in time # S #' (repeated twice).
The embedded sentences that complete it are 'I walked to the taffrail,' 'I made
out + NP,' and 'I caught + NP.' The point of departure, then, is
the narrator himself: where he was, what he did, what he saw. But a glance at
the deep structure will explain why one feels a quite different emphasis in the
sentence as a whole: seven of the embedded sentences have 'sharer' as
grammatical subjects; in another three the subject is a noun linked to 'sharer' by
the copula; in two 'sharer' is direct object; and in two more 'share' is the verb.
Thus thirteen sentences go to the semantic development of 'sharer' as follows:
1. The secret sharer had lowered the secret sharer into the water.
2. The secret sharer took his punishment.
3. The secret sharer swam.
4. The secret sharer was a swimmer.
5. The swimmer was proud.
6. The swimmer struck out for a new destiny.
7. The secret sharer was a man.
8. The man was free.
9. The secret sharer was my secret self.
10. The secret sharer had (it).
11. (Someone) punished the secret sharer.
12. (Someone) shared my cabin.
13. (Someone) shared my thoughts.
In a fundamental way, the sentence is mainly about Leggatt, although the
surface structure indicates otherwise. . . .
"[The] progression in the deep structure rather precisely mirrors both the
rhetorical movement of the sentence from the narrator to Leggatt via the hat that
links them, and the thematic effect of the sentence, which is to transfer Leggatt's
experience to the narrator via the narrator's vicarious and actual participation in
it. Here I shall leave this abbreviatedrhetorical analysis, with a cautionary word: I
do not mean to suggest that only an examination of deep structure reveals
Conrad's skillful emphasis--on the contrary, such an examination supports and
in a sense explains what any careful reader of the story notices."

(Richard M. Ohmann, "Literature as Sentences." College English, 1966. Rpt.

in Essays in Stylistic Analysis, ed. by Howard S. Babb. Harcourt, 1972)

1. SYNTAX PART 3 Sentences

2. Definition:A sentence is a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that
bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it, expresses a
thought in the form of a statement, question, instruction, orexclamation, which starts
with a capital letter and ends with a full stop when written.
3. Sentence can be classified based on the categories of Pragmatic Aspect, Form,
and Grammatical Structure
4. Based on the Pragmatic Aspect (realistic condition of the usage), sentence can
be classified into:1 Declarative Sentence2 Imperative Sentence3 Interrogative
Sentence4 Exclamatory Sentence
5. 1. Declarative Sentence A declarative sentence is a sentence in the form of a
statement. Examples: I have to go to work. Ill never do that. We are
studying linguistics. He took my bicycle.
6. 2. Imperative Sentence An imperative sentence is a sentence that tells
someone to do something, gives advice or instructions, or that expresses a request
or command. An imperative sentence usually have no obvious subject.
Examples: Go to work! Dont do that! Dont walk on the grass! You
should study hard.
7. 3. Interrogative Sentence An interrogative sentence is a sentence in the form of
question, which is used to request information. There are two types of
interrogative sentence; those which expect the answer yes or no, and those
which begin with the question words what, where, which, who, whom,
when, why, whose, or how that expect the complete answer.
8. Examples: Do you have to go to work? Did you do that? Have you got
the message? Yes/no questions. Are you OK? Is she your girlfriend? What
are you doing? Why did you do that? Whose car is that? Wh- questions.
Where is my book? How are you?
9. 4. Exclamatory Sentence An exclamatory sentence is a sentence that
expresses strong feelings by making an exclamation. Examples: I did it!
What a fool I was! What a beautiful country! Oh my God!
10. Based on the Form (completeness of the structure), sentence can be classified
into: MAJOR SENTENCEA MINOR SENTENCEB
11. A. MAJOR SENTENCE A major sentence is a regular sentence which
contains a finite verb; it has a subject and a predicate. Example: I have a book.
(in this sentence, one can change the persons, such as: we have a book, she has a
book, you have a book, and so on.)
12. B. MINOR SENTENCE A minor sentence is an irregular type of sentence. It
does not contain a finite verb, and frequently found in colloquial speech.
Examples: Just a minute. Yes. Coffee?
13. Based on the Grammatical Structure (the composition and relation between
clauses), sentence can be classified into:A SIMPLE SENTENCEB COMPOUND
SENTENCEC COMPLEX SENTENCED COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE
14. A. SIMPLE SENTENCE A simple sentence is a sentence which consists of
one independent clause (main clause) with no dependent clause (subordinate

clause). Examples: I come. The boy cried. Canada is a rich country.

The girl ran into her bedroom. Some students like to study in the morning.
15. B. COMPOUND SENTENCE A compound sentence is a sentence consists of
two or more independent clauses (main clauses) with no dependent clause
(subordinate clause); usually linked by the coordinating conjunctions: and, but, so,
or, either . or, neither . nor, or then. She works in the city but She lives in the
suburbs Coordinating Conjunction Independent Clause Independent Clause (Main
Clause) (Main Clause)
16. Other Examples: 1. My friend invited me to a birthday party, but I dont want
to go. 2. He ran out and fell over the suitcase. 3. Either the students or the teacher
takes a day off every month. 4. He could neither eat nor sleep. 5. Do you want to
stay here, or would you like to come with me? 6. She has five children, so she is
incredibly busy. 7. She ate breakfast, then went to school.
17. C. COMPLEX SENTENCE A complex sentence is a sentence consists of one
independent clause (main clause) and at least one dependent clause (subordinate
clause), and often formed by putting the subordinating conjunctions, such as: as, as
if, before, after, because, although, while, when, whenever, during, as soon as, as
long as, since, until, unless, where, wherever, etc. Examples: John cannot set
up his computer because the setting is complicated. She became queen when
her father died, because she was the eldest child.
18. John cannot set up his computer Independent Clause because the setting is
complicated. Dependent Clause Subordinating Conjunction
19. D. COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE A compound-complex sentence is a
sentence consists of two or more independent clauses (main clauses) and at least
one dependent (subordinate clause).Example: Although she worked hard to gain
recognition, many people did not know who she was, and her friends did not even
appreciate her work.
20. Although she worked hard to gain recognition, many people did notknow who
she was, and her friends did not even appreciate her work. Although she worked
hard to gain recognition, (Dependent Clause) many people did not know who she
was, (Independent Clause) (Subordinating (Coordinating Conjunction) and
Conjunction) her friends did not even appreciate her work. (Independent Clause)
21. Summary of Sentence Patterns based on the Grammatical Structure: Type of
Independent DependentSentence: Clause: Clause:Simple Sentence
Compound Sentence or > Complex Sentence at least CompoundComplex Sentence or > at least
22. GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS (SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS) So far, we have
looked at the types of sentences based on the usage, form, and structure. Now we
will focus on the internal structure of sentence, involving the grammatical relations
(syntactic functions). Commonly, the basic pattern of the simple English sentence
is: (Adjunct) + (Subject) + Predicate + (Object) + (Complement) + (Adjunct) (A) (S)
P (O) (C) (A) where only the Predicate (P) is essential, and in which the Adjunct (A)
is mobile.
23. NOTE: A noun (person or thing) which performs the action of a verb, or which
Subject is joined to a description by a verb. (S) A part of sentence or clause
containing a verb and stating something Predicate about the subject. (P) Object A

noun (person or thing) that is affected by the action of a verb or (O) involved in the
result of an action that is done by a subject. Adjunct A word used as modifier in a
sentence. (A)Complement A word or word group that completes the predicate in a
sentence. (C)
24. The following example will show how the previous pattern works: The man
called the boy suddenly (Noun Part) (Verb Part) (Noun Part) (Adverb Part) S P O
A We call the noun part a subject (S), the verb part a predicate (P), the other
noun part an object (O), and the adverb part an adjunct (A).
25. As mentioned before that an adjunct (A) is usually mobile. See the following
examples:The man called the boy suddenly.The man suddenly called the
boy.Suddenly the man called the boy.
26. EXAMPLES of COMPLEMENT: She is beautiful. She becomes a doctor.
He was in the bus. Your perfume smells very good. Before the show, she
seemed nervous.A word or a group of words that involve linking verbs (such
asAPPEAR, BECOME, BE, SEEM,GROW, LOOK, TASTE, SMELL,SOUND, FEEL,
etc.) to complete the predicate in a sentence, is calleda Complement (C).Thus, the
words: beautiful, a doctor, in the bus, very good, andnervous in the sentences
above are all complements.
27. There are two kinds of Complement: Subject Complement Object
Complement
28. (1) Subject complement is the complement that provides information on the
subject (like in the previous examples), such as: He was in the bus. S P C (in
the bus provides the information about the subject he).(2) Object complement is
the complement that provides information on the object, for examples: The man
called his brother a fool. S P O C (a fool provides the information about the object
his brother) Susan found the assignment difcult. S P O C (difcult provides
the information about the object assignment)
29. Example of the complete basic pattern of simple English sentence:John often
called his brother a fool S A P O C
30. Word Order Typology of English PATTERNS: EXAMPLES: P Go PA Go quietly
SP John slept SPA John slept quietly PO Eat your breakfast SPO John ate his
breakfast SPOA John ate his breakfast quickly SPC John is a fool ASPC At times
John is a fool SPOC John called his brother a fool SAPOC John often called his
brother a fool
31. Dealing with the sentence patterns, there are four kind of operations that can
be used to examine a sentence variation without changing its semantic aspect.
They are: 1 Insertion (Addition) 2 Deletion 3 Substitution 4 Transposition
(Permutation)
32. 1. Insertion (Addition) Insertion is the process of putting one or more
constituents inside a sentence. Example: The boy is clever. The handsome
boy is very clever. insertion insertion
33. 2. Deletion Deletion is the process of removing one or more constituents of a
sentence. Example: The handsome boy is very clever. The boy is clever.
deletion deletion

34. 3. Substitution Substitution is the process of substituting both subject or

object into pronouns, or verb phrases into auxiliary verbs. Examples: a. The young
man visited her mother He visited her.
35. 4. Transposition (Permutation) Transposition (permutation) is the process of
exchanging the position or the order of constituents in a sentence without changing
the grammatical and semantic aspects. Example: The man called the boy suddenly.
S P O A The man suddenly called the boy. S A P O Suddenly the man called the
boy. A S P O
36. GRAMMATICAL vs. UNGRAMMATICAL SENTENCES In English and in
every language, every sentence is a sequence of words, but not every sequence of
words is a sentence. Sequences of words that conform to the rules of syntax are
said to be grammatical, and those that violate the syntactic rules are called
ungrammatical. In other words, utterances (sentences) which are constructed
appropriately based on grammatical rules are normally called grammatical
sentences; while utterances which are not constructed based on the grammatical
rules are called ungrammatical sentences.
37. In linguistics, an ungrammatical sentence is normally marked with an asterisk
(*) sometimes two in front of it. Example: a) The boy kissed the girl. (grammatical)
b) *The boy kissing the girl. (ungrammatical)
38. GRAMMATICAL & ACCEPTABLE As the grammatical refers to the condition
in which the utterance is constructed appropriately based on grammatical rules,
acceptable is used to decide whether or not an utterance (sentence) can be
accepted in case of form or the effectiveness of the sentence. Compare the
following sentences:
39. The man hit the dog. (grammatical-acceptable) The dog chased the cat.
(grammatical-acceptable) The cat died. (grammatical-acceptable)Based on the
structure, we can combine the three sentencesas follow: The cat that the dog
that the man hit chased died. (grammatical-unacceptable)Most native speakers
would not accept the sentence above.It is certainly grammatical in that all we have
done is add one adjective clausethat the man hit that describes the dog.However,
the consecutive/serial verbs (hit-chased-died) make the sentenceunacceptable.
40. When they are embedded within a sentence, most people cannot accept more
than two adjective clauses. However, as soon as the adjective clauses occur at the
end of the sentence, we can accept any number of them. Thus, the previous
sentence will be both grammatical and acceptable by this structure: This is the man
that hit the dog that chased the cat that died. (grammatical-acceptable)
41. AMBIGUOUS & INTERPRETABLE When a word or phrase has more than
one possible meaning and may cause confusion, it is called lexical ambiguity, and
this is a common feature of English and of many other languages. Example: a small
piece of wood CHIP a long thin piece of potato a small piece of siliconLexical
Ambiguous
42. As well as lexical ambiguity, there is also syntactic ambiguity where a
structure is capable of more than one interpretation. Example: Visiting relatives can
cause problems Syntactic Ambiguous This sentence is ambiguous because it can
be interpreted as: 1. Relatives who visit us can cause problems. OR 2. When we
visit relatives, there can be problems.

43. Diagram of the Correlation between Interpretation and Ambiguity:

AmbiguityLexical Ambiguity Syntactic Ambiguity Interpretation