Page 331 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Unit 25: Transformational Rules: Application-Tree Diagrams

25.6 Review Questions Notes

• In linguistics, a transformational grammar or transformational-generative grammar (TGG) is
a generative grammar, especially of a natural language, that has been developed in the
Chomskyan tradition of phrase structure grammars (as opposed to dependency grammars).
• In 1957, Noam Chomsky published Syntactic Structures, in which he developed the idea that
each sentence in a language has two levels of representation - a deep structure and a surface
structure. The deep structure represented the core semantic relations of a sentence, and was
mapped on to the surface structure (which followed the phonological form of the sentence
very closely) via transformations. Chomsky believed there are considerable similarities
between languages' deep structures, and that these structures reveal properties, common to
all languages that surface structures conceal.
• Though transformations continue to be important in Chomsky's current theories, he has now
abandoned the original notion of Deep Structure and Surface Structure. Initially, two additional
levels of representation were introduced (LF - Logical Form, and PF - Phonetic Form), and
then in the 1990s Chomsky sketched out a new program of research known as Minimalism,
in which Deep Structure and Surface Structure no longer featured and PF and LF remained
as the only levels of representation.
• Tree diagrams, also called "parse trees" and "concrete syntax trees," are used in linguistics
and formal grammar to divide a sentence into its separate parts while maintaining the structure
of the sentence. Parse trees resemble regular tree diagrams in structure; however, they differ
in that their function is very specific.

25.7 Review Questions

1. What is meant by Transformational rules?
2. Discuss the development of basic concepts.
3. Discuss Transformations.
4. What do you understand by ‘Tree diagram’? Illustrate the following sentences in tree diagram.
(i) These dogs chased those cats.
(ii) We used the bat to hit the ball.

25.8 Further Readings

1. Verma, S.K., V.N. Krishnaswamy. Modern Linguistics: An Introduction.
2. An Introduction to Linguistics, John Lyon.
3. Peter Roach: English phonetics and phonology. Cambridge University Press.
4. Encyclopedia of Linguistic Science Edited By V. Prakasam, Allied Pub.,
New Delhi.

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