The Standard Theory

Generative grammar has undergone several major revisions since its initial
introduction in the late 1950s. The term standard theory has been used to refer to the model of
generative grammar as expounded in Chomsky’s 1965 book, Aspects of the Theory of
Syntax (a review of his thought on the nature of grammar, particularly syntax, since the
publication of Syntactic Structures).

The most notable changes introduced in this book include the following factors: The
notion of Kernel is abandoned and the underlying constituents of sentences are identified as
deep structures. Deep structures are generated by phrase-structure rules, and surface
structures are derived from deep structures by a series of transformations. Semantics is
an integralpart of the theory. The recursive property (structures being repeated) of the
grammar is accounted for in the Phrase Structure Rules.

The main difference between SS (Syntactic Structures) model and Aspects Model is
the insertion of semantic component into the theoretical framework of TG grammar. The
core aspect of Standard Theory is the distinction between two different levels of a
sentence, called Deep structure and Surface structure. The two representations are linked
to each other by transformational grammar.

Deep structure is an abstract level of structural organization in which all the elements
determining structural and semantic interpretation are represented. Chomsky modifies his
theory in such a way that deep structures are generated in two stages: First a simple set of
Phrase Structure rules generate Phrase Markers in which the terminal positions are empty
slots for the lexical items to be inserted in the second stage. Such PMs (Phrase Marker) are
referred to as pre-lexical structure. The following is an example for Phrase Markers:
 In the second stage the empty places are filled with complex symbols consisting of
morphemes plus their syntactic and semantic features by the rules of lexical transformations.
The PS rules and lexical transformations jointly constitute what is called the BASE
component of the grammar. For example a deep structure for the sentence (The girl bought
the bird) will be:

The following diagram shows how grammar is outlined in the ASPECT theory:

EST
Extended Standard Theory (= EST) is a term for the model of generative
grammar which evolved in the early 1970s and derives from the so-called Standard

Theory as put forward in Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. The essential nature of the
extension is the increase in the range of semantic rules, some of which are suggested by
Chomsky as applying to surface structure. Features which are taken to apply on the surface
level are those of stress and intonation, aspects of quantification (the use of such elements as
all, some, each). For example, “The boys have eaten all their dinner vs. All the boys have
eaten their dinner.” Further aspects of semantics, dealt with on the surface level, are the
focus of the sentence, presuppositions implied in the sentence, etc. It was no longer the case
that deep structure determined the semantic representation of a sentence in its entirety. This
led later linguists, particularly semanticists, to abandon the notion of syntactic deep structure
altogether.