spell-out (n.)

In the MINIMALIST PROGRAMME, an operation which distinguishes the PHONETIC REPRESENTATION within a STRUCTURAL DESCRIPTION from other kinds of information. The operation motivates the distinction between PHONETIC FORM (PF) and LOGICAL FORM (LF). Semantic information is not allowed in PF representations, and phonological information is not allowed in LF representations. Movements which occur before spell-out will affect the pronunciation of a sentence; those which occur afterwards will not. Since spell-out is an operation, it is different from S-structure, a structural representation, in GOVERNMENT-BINDING THEORY. In later minimalist thinking, spell-out is called transfer.