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Not all segments are specified for all features at all times. Theories of underspecification have been proposed which aim to explain the circumstances under which segments might lack feature values, in underlying or derived representations. This chapter surveys the hypotheses about underspecification that have defined the terms of current research. Within the generative phonological tradition initiated by Halle (1959) and Chomsky and Halle (1968), two starting assumptions are generally made: (1)  Lexical Minimality: underlying representations must reduce to some minimum the phonological information used to distinguish lexical items. (2)  Full Specification: the output of the phonological component must contain fully (or at least maximally) specified feature matrices. One of the functions of the phonological component is then to supply the nondistinctive information missing from the underlying forms. Lexical Minimality requires that the maximal amount of phonological features be left out of the lexical entries, whereas Full Specification dictates that they be present in the input to phonetic interpretation. One way to extract dispensable information from lexical entries is to rely on syntagmatic processes – rules like Palatalize velar before front vowel or Nasalize vocoid after nasal – which allow us to leave unspecified contextually determined properties like the palatality of ... log in or subscribe to read full text