shallow (adj.)

A term used in the REVISED EXTENDED STANDARD THEORY of GENERATIVE GRAMMAR, to refer to a LEVEL of REPRESENTATION distinct from (SYNTACTIC) SURFACE STRUCTURE. Shallow structure differs from surface structure principally in the way it is followed within the grammar by certain types of FORMAL operation other than PHONOLOGICAL RULES – FILTERS, DELETION and STYLISTIC rules. The term has also been used in the work of some generative grammarians to refer to the output of CYCLIC TRANSFORMATIONS, whereas in REST it refers to the output of POST-CYCLIC transformations. In GOVERNMENT-BINDING THEORY, shallow structure is known as S-structure.