A CONSTRAINT-BASED THEORY OF PHONOLOGICAL MARKEDNESS AND SIMPLIFICATION PROCEDURES

Universal Grammar contains hierarchically organized lists of constrain ts on feature cooccurrence, including marking statements, which charac terize certain feature configurations as being phonologically complex. If a marking statement is active in a language, the segment identifie d by this marking statement is disallowed. When speakers encounter a d isallowed segment, they have access to simplification procedures that repair the disallowed configuration characterizing this segment. The m arking statements provide the basis for the definition of contrastive and marked features. Phonological rules differ with regard to the feat ures that are visible to them: only marked features, only contrastive features, or all types of features.