Deep Structure: An Overview
Abstract
Deep structure, a concept developed in linguistics, is a cognitive representation of a language which underlies the surface structure of language. It is the set of rules, principles, and processes that generate a language’s particular syntax, morphology, and semantics. This article provides an overview of the concept and its implications in linguistics, psychology, and other disciplines.
Keywords: linguistics, deep structure, surface structure, syntax, semantics
Deep structure is a cognitive concept developed in linguistics. It is a representation of a language which lies below the surface structure of language. It is the set of rules, principles, and processes that generate a language’s particular syntax, morphology, and semantics. In this article, we will provide an overview of the concept, its implications in linguistics and other disciplines, and its applications.
The concept of deep structure emerged in the 1950s as a result of the work of Noam Chomsky and his colleagues. Chomsky argued that the surface structure of language does not reflect its true structure. Instead, he proposed that there is an underlying system of rules and processes that create the surface structure of language. This underlying system is known as deep structure.
The concept of deep structure has been influential in linguistics, psychology, and other disciplines. In linguistics, deep structure is used to explain the relationship between surface structure and meaning. For example, it is used to explain how syntactic changes can affect the meaning of a sentence. In psychology, deep structure is often used to explain how humans acquire and process language.
Deep structure has also been applied to other disciplines, such as computer science and artificial intelligence. In computer science, deep structure is used to create algorithms that can understand and generate natural language. In artificial intelligence, deep structure is used to create robots and other intelligent agents that can understand and interact with humans using natural language.
In conclusion, deep structure is a cognitive concept developed in linguistics that is used to explain the relationship between surface structure and meaning. It has implications in linguistics, psychology, and other disciplines, and it has been applied to computer science and artificial intelligence.
References
Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton.
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