ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines how Government Phonology (GP) accounts for syllable structure. Traditionally, syllable structure is encoded by arboreal structure, that is, the syllabic tree with the canonical constituent structure. Rather than talking about the effect of syllabification, GP elevates to theoretical relevance its origin: the lateral relationship between two segments. Or, in other words, GP encodes the lateral cause of syllabification, rather than its vertical effect: it is the former that matters and that phonological theory should manipulate. Empty nuclei are a trademark of GP. Even though they were sporadically used outside of and prior to this theory, only GP has given them a theoretical status with stable diagnostics and cross-linguistic properties. In Standard GP, internuclear government was called Proper Government in order to be distinct from the other types of government mentioned. The chapter discusses the inventory of empty nuclei that are recognized in Standard GP.
