surface structure
Save This Word!
noun Linguistics.(in transformational-generative grammar)
a structural representation of the final syntactic form of a sentence, as it exists after the transformational component has modified a deep structure.Compare deep structure.
the string of words that is actually produced.
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!
Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between it’s and its in this crafty quiz!
Question 1 of 12
On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.
Origin of surface structure
First recorded in 1960–65
Words nearby surface structure
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for surface structure
British Dictionary definitions for surface structure
surface structure
noun
generative grammar a representation of a string of words or morphemes as they occur in a sentence, together with labels and brackets that represent syntactic structureCompare deep structure
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012