Lexical properties of postlexical rules: Postlexical derived environment and the elsewhere condition

Abstract

In Lexical Phonology, cyclic lexical rules apply strictly in derived environments, and subject to the Elsewhere Condition (EC), whereas postlexical rules are said not to apply in this way. This paper argues that the rule of Weakening in Tyneside English is a postlexical neutralisation rule which operates, not across the board, but in the postlexical equivalent of a derived environment: just as cyclic lexical rules cannot apply to lexical entries, so Weakening cannot apply to feet formed in the lexicon. The order of application of this rule with respect to the across-the-board postlexical rule of Glottalisation is shown to follow from the Elsewhere Condition. Thus, there is a paralellism between the lexical and postlexical modules: in both, rules which apply in derived environment, subject to the EC, precede rules which are not thus restricted. It is also suggested, pace Kiparsky (1988), that we must allow for postlexical rules which undergo the phenomenon of lexical diffusion.