Deep structure

Deep structure (or P-structure) is one of the levels recognized by the representational models of transformational generative grammar. Its usefulness lay in being a primitive and simple structure from which transformations (in the standard model) or the "move-α" (in Reaction and linkage).

The deep structure is related to the surface structure through the so-called transformational subcomponent of the syntactic component. It is the type of relationship that, for example, should be expected between an active sentence and its passive form. For example, the sentences "Antanas loves Adriana" and "Adriana is loved by Antanas" They mean the same thing using different words. These two statements are surface structures that are derived from the same deep structure. This difference is what allows us to distinguish the concept of grammaticality from that of acceptability.

The deep structure is abandoned in the minimalist program when the representational conception of grammar is discarded in favor of a derivational model without internal levels. Technically, the deep structure of principles and parameters would coincide with the first state of the derivational process that leads to the truly pronounced form (which would be similar to the surface structure).

Deep structure in standard theory

In the standard theory, deep structure is derived from the rules present in the base subcomponent of the syntactic component. In this model, it is understood that the deep structure is an active, declarative, positive and canonical sentence from which the semantic interpretation is carried out.

Deep structure in resection and ligation

In Reaction and Linkage, the deep structure is renamed P-Structure, since the term "deep" It carried nuances foreign to the ideas of the theory.

The P-structure is not derived from a set of rules, but is the result of the projection of certain lexical units in the computational component. This projection occurs through the Theory of X' and θ-Theory (or thematic theory).

Unlike the standard model, straightening and binding assigns semantic interpretation to the S-structure (the renamed surface structure), leaving the only function for the P-structure to be the representation on which the movements of constituents are carried out.

Relevant bibliography

• Chomsky, N, (1965): Aspects of the Theory of the Syntax, Cambridge, Mass, The MIT Press.
• Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on Government and Binding. Gruyter Mouton.