Deep structure: This represents the underlying meaning or conceptual content of a

sentence. It encompasses the core semantic relationships between words and phrases,
independent of their actual arrangement in a sentence. Deep structure is often seen as the
abstract representation of a sentence's meaning.Surface structure: This is the actual
arrangement of words and phrases in a sentence, as it appears on the surface. It reflects the
syntactic structure of a sentence—the order of words, phrases, and clauses—as well as any
transformations or modifications that occur to generate the final sentence.
Recursion in syntax refers to the ability of a language to nest structures within themselves
indefinitely. It's the linguistic phenomenon where elements within a sentence can contain
similar elements, creating a hierarchical structure. This recursive property allows for the
generation of complex sentences with multiple levels of embedding. For example, in English,
we can say "The cat chased the mouse" or "The cat that chased the mouse slept." The latter
contains a embedded clause ("that chased the mouse") within the main clause ("The cat
slept"), demonstrating recursion in syntax. This feature is fundamental to human language
and is a key aspect of many syntactic theories.
The tree diagram should look something like this:
S
______|______
| |
NP VP
| _____|_____
The cat V NP
| |
chased the mouse

This tree diagram represents the hierarchical structure of the sentence, with each node
representing a constituent and the branches indicating their relationships.
Symbols used in syntax

S: SentenceNP: Noun PhraseVP: Verb PhrasePP: Prepositional PhraseAdjP: Adjective PhraseAdvP:

Here are some basic phrase structure rules:S → NP VP: A sentence (S) consists of a noun phrase (NP)
followed by a verb phrase (VP).NP → (Det) (AdjP) N (PP): A noun phrase (NP) consists of an optional
determiner (Det), followed by zero or more optional adjective phrases (AdjP*), a noun (N), and zero
or more optional prepositional phrases (PP*).VP → V (NP) (AdvP) (PP*): A verb phrase (VP) consists
of a verb (V), followed by zero or more optional noun phrases (NP*), zero or more optional adverb
phrases (AdvP*), and zero or more optional prepositional phrases (PP*).AdjP → (DegP) Adj (PP): An
adjective phrase (AdjP) consists of an optional degree phrase (DegP), followed by an adjective (Adj),
and zero or more optional prepositional phrases (PP).AdvP → (DegP) Adv (PP): An adverb phrase
(AdvP) consists of an optional degree phrase (DegP), followed by an adverb (Adv), and zero or more
optional prepositional phrases (PP).PP → P NP: A prepositional phrase (PP) consists of a preposition
(P) followed by a noun phrase (NP).

Noun Lexical Rule: Defines the properties and structure of nouns in a language. It specifies features
such as number (singular/plural), gender (masculine/feminine/neuter), case
(nominative/genitive/accusative), and any irregular forms.Verb Lexical Rule: Specifies the properties
and structure of verbs, including tense (present/past/future), aspect (simple/progressive/perfect),
mood (indicative/imperative/subjunctive), and any irregular conjugations.Adjective Lexical Rule:
Governs the properties and structure of adjectives, including degrees of comparison
(positive/comparative/superlative), agreement with nouns, and any irregular forms.Adverb Lexical
Rule: Defines the properties and structure of adverbs, including manner (quickly/slowly), degree
(very/extremely), time (yesterday/today), place (here/there), and any irregular forms.Preposition
Lexical Rule: Specifies the properties and structure of prepositions, including their semantic roles
(location, direction, time, etc.), and any syntactic constraints on their usage.Determiner Lexical Rule:
Governs the properties and structure of determiners, including definite (the), indefinite (a/an),
demonstrative (this/that), possessive (my/your), and any irregular forms.Conjunction Lexical Rule:
Defines the properties and structure of conjunctions, including coordinating (and, but, or) and
subordinating (because, although, while) conjunctions, and any syntactic constraints on their
usage.Pronoun Lexical Rule: Specifies the properties and structure of pronouns, including personal (I,
you, he/she/it), demonstrative (this, that), possessive (mine, yours, his/hers/its), reflexive (myself,
yourself, himself/herself/itself), and any irregular forms.

Here are some examples of movement rules:Wh-Movement: Moves a wh-phrase (such as "who,"
"what," "where," etc.) from its original position in a sentence to the beginning of the sentence or to a
higher position within the sentence structure.Example: Original: "John saw the cat." After Wh-
Movement: "Who did John see?"Passive Transformation: Converts an active sentence into a passive
one by moving the object of the active verb to the subject position and introducing a form of the
verb "to be" followed by the past participle of the main verb.Example: Original: "The cat chased the
mouse." After Passive Transformation: "The mouse was chased by the cat."Topicalization: Moves a
constituent to the beginning of the sentence to highlight it as the topic of discussion.Example:
Original: "The cat chased the mouse." After Topicalization