Government Phonology (GP) is a theoretical framework of linguistics, and more specifically of phonology. The framework aims to provide a non-arbitrary account for phonological phenomena by replacing the rule component of SPE-type phonology with well-formedness constraints on representations. Thus, it is a non-derivational representation-based framework, and as such, the current representative of Autosegmental Phonology. GP subscribes to the claim that Universal Grammar is composed of a restricted set of universal principles and parameters. As in Noam Chomsky’s principles and parameters approach to syntax, the differences in phonological systems across languages are captured through different combinations of parameter settings. Element Theory The sub-theory of GP modelling the internal structure of segments is called Element Theory (ET). Like chemical elements, the melodic primes of ET are phonetically interpretable alone as well as in combinations - hence their name. They are assumed, depending on the version of ET, to correspond to either characteristic acoustic signatures in the signal, or articulatory gestures (or hot features, as previously referred to). Unlike the (binary) distinctive features of Structuralist Phonology and SPE, each element is a monovalent (unary, single-valued) and potentially interpretable phonological expression. ET has a number of versions and has since KLV 1985 been reformed in various ways with the aim of reducing the element inventory, to avoid overgeneration (being able to generate more structures than attested cross-linguistically). In its most widespread version, there are 6 elements believed to be existent across all languages: (A), (I), (U), (ʔ), (L) and (H), representing openness/coronality, frontness/palatality, roundness/labiality, stopness, voicing/nasality and frication/aspiration, respectively. Their actual interpretation depends on what phonological constituent dominates them, and whether they occupy a head or operator position within a phonological expression. For instance, when simplex, (I) is interpreted as /i/ in a syllable peak (nucleus), but as /j/ at a syllable edge (typically, in a syllable onset). (A) makes /a/ in a nucleus but /r/ in a consonantal position. In complex phonological expressions, the phonetic properties mix in proportion to the head/operator status: the (A, I) expression is both open (non-high) and front, but it is more probably interpreted as [e] when the head is (I), and as [ɛ] or [æ] when the head is (A). Syllable structure without syllables In its classical form (sometimes referred to as GP 1.0), developed in KLV 1990, prosodic structure is modelled as a sequence of Onset-Rhyme (O-R) pairs, where the syllable rhyme obligatorily contains a nucleus