what is preserved is (a) that syntactic structure is the sole source of generativity in the grammar, and (b) that lexical
items enter a derivation at the point where syntactic combination is taking place.^49
5.3 Tiers and interfaces in phonology
Thealternativetobe pursued hereis thatlanguage comprises a number of independent combinatorial systems, which are aligned with
each other by means of a collection of interface systems. Syntax is among the combinatorial systems, but far from the only one.
The genesis of this alternative comes from developments in“autosegmental phonology”in the middle 1970s, which
came to divide phonological structure into a number of quasi-independent subcomponents ortiers(Goldsmith 1979;
1990; Liberman and Prince 1977. By way of illustration, let us look again at a representative piece of Fig. 1.1, the
phonological structure associated with the phrasethe little star.
The units of the syllabic structure are individual segments and their combinations into syllables, i.e. structures like (2).
THE PARALLEL ARCHITECTURE 111
(^49) A sociological point:Unfortunately, along withthe formal syntactocentrismof the frameworkhas come a syntactocentrism of outlook in many practitioners,a reluctanceto
exploresolutions in other than syntacticterms.“We have the toolsto deal withthis problemsyntactically, so why spend effort on some ill-understood and vague semantic/
pragmaticframework?”Such a view can be justified to some degree on practicalgrounds: theapproach has led to tremendously productive,detailed, and subtle researchon
a huge varietyof languages. However, as remarked in Ch. 4, theemphasis on syntax to thedetrimentof semanticshas led to criticism from every quarter,deepeningtherift
between generative grammar and neighboring disciplines.