insertion (n.)

A basic SYNTACTIC operation within the framework of TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR which introduces (inserts) a new STRUCTURAL ELEMENT into a STRING; specific types of example include ‘do-insertion’, ‘NEGATIVE (neg-) insertion’, ‘there-insertion’ (which inserts an EMPTY there in SUBJECT position in STATEMENTS, e.g. there was a cat in the garden) and ‘lexical insertion’ (which inserts LEXICAL ITEMS at particular places in grammatical structure).