The surface structure of a sentence is
A)evident in the overregularizations in a child's early speech.
B)demonstrated by the implicit knowledge of grammatical rules.
C)the meaning of the sentence despite different phrases used.
D)the way a sentence is actually spoken or signed.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The surface structure of a sentence refers to the actual form in which a sentence is spoken or signed. It includes things like word order, tense, and the specific words used. This is in contrast to the underlying structure or deep structure, which is the meaning conveyed by the sentence regardless of the specific phrasing used. Choices A and B refer to aspects of language acquisition and grammatical knowledge, but not specifically to surface structure. Choice C is describing the deep structure, not the surface structure.

The Surface Structure of a Sentence Is