The question of overgeneration in Element Theory

One of the consequences of the Element Theory conception of subsegmental units, whereby segments are made up of one or more elements (in most cases from two to four), is that the inventory of primitives in ET is smaller than in binary Feature Theories. Nevertheless, from the beginning of ET up to present day, revised models have been proposed, that almost without exceptions eliminate elements in order to make the inventory smaller. The goal of this paper is to reaffirm the essential nature of ET as a theory of grammar with the primary objective of a cognitively adequate model of linguistic competence. With this in mind, we have tried to draw attention to the negative consequences of reduction of element set on the one hand, and to highlight the weakness and inconsistency of overgeneration as an issue of phonological theory, on the other hand.