covert (adj.)

A term used in LINGUISTIC analysis to refer to the relationships between linguistic FORMS which are not observable in the SURFACE STRUCTURE of a SENTENCE, but emerge only when sets of sentences are brought into relationship with each other; opposed to OVERT. Examples of covert relations include SUBSTITUTABILITY (as in the notion of WORD-CLASS) and TRANSFORMATIONAL equivalence. ‘Covert WH-MOVEMENT’ involves the movement of a phonologically NULL element, as occurs with that-RELATIVES or COMPARATIVES in GOVERNMENT-BINDING THEORY.

In the MINIMALIST PROGRAMME, a term describing the subsystem (the covert component) which, following the operation of SPELL-OUT, continues the computation of a sentence to LOGICAL FORM; it contrasts in this model with the ‘phonological component’, which leads to a representation in phonetic form.

A term used in SOCIOLINGUISTICS as part of the analysis of the way linguistic FORMS carry social prestige: in covert prestige, forms belonging to VERNACULAR DIALECTS are positively valued, emphasizing group solidarity and local identity. This kind of prestige is covert, because it is usually manifested subconsciously between members of a group, unlike the case of OVERT prestige, where the forms to be valued are publicly recommended by powerful social institutions.