pre-lexical (adj.)

A term used in some MODELS of GENERATIVE GRAMMAR to refer to the first stage in a two-stage generation of DEEP STRUCTURES. In this stage PHRASE-MARKERS are generated in which the TERMINAL NODES are expressed as a ∆ (DELTA) ELEMENT. In the second stage, LEXICAL ITEMS are inserted into these positions, in the form of COMPLEX SYMBOLS (i.e. ‘lexical TRANSFORMATIONS’).