Spontaneous Lorentz invariance violation (SLIV) realized through a nonlinear tensor field constraint (M is the proposed scale for Lorentz violation) is considered in tensor field gravity theory, which mimics linearized general relativity in Minkowski space–time. We show that such a SLIV pattern, due to which the true vacuum in the theory is chosen, induces massless tensor Goldstone modes some of which can naturally be associated with the physical graviton. When expressed in terms of the pure Goldstone modes, this theory looks essentially nonlinear and contains a variety of Lorentz and CPT violating couplings. Nonetheless, all SLIV effects turn out to be strictly canceled in all the lowest order processes considered, provided that the tensor field gravity theory is properly extended to general relativity (GR). So, as we generally argue, the measurable effects of SLIV, induced by elementary vector or tensor fields, are related to the accompanying gauge symmetry breaking rather than to spontaneous Lorentz violation. The latter appears by itself to be physically unobservable, only resulting in a non-covariant gauge choice in an otherwise gauge invariant and Lorentz invariant theory. However, while Goldstonic vector and tensor field theories with exact local invariance are physically indistinguishable from conventional gauge theories, there might appear some principal distinctions if this local symmetry were slightly broken at very small distances in a way that could eventually allow one to differentiate between them observationally.
