Sociology Plus
Deep Structure and Surface Structure Definition
Deep structure and surface structure are terms from Noam Chomsky’s theory of transformational grammar, distinguishing the underlying meaning of a communication (deep structure) from the outward form in which it is expressed (surface structure).
Chomsky’s Theory
All languages have a structure — their grammar, or syntax. Chomsky argued that beneath their apparent syntactic diversity, human languages share a common structure at a deeper level; this deep structure, worked on by various “transformational rules,” generates the wide range of surface forms. Thus the deep structure “John gave the book to Jill” may surface as “Jill received the book from John” or “The book was given to Jill by John”: the syntax changes, but the meaning does not. Chomsky’s evidence for a common deep structure includes the striking speed with which human infants acquire language at a specific developmental stage — they can even learn several languages simultaneously — which suggests an inborn predisposition to acquire the deep structure and its transformational rules.
Wider Usage
The vocabulary of deep and surface structure has spread into the social sciences generally, though outside linguistics it is not usually taken to imply any innate predisposition to acquire the deeper level.