A Formal Theory of Exceptions in Generative Phonology

This dissertation would have been finished much earlier, and to its detriment, if not for the beneficial intervention of the following people. First and foremost I should like to express my gratitude to the supervisor of this thesis, Professor Henk Schultink. If there is such a person as the ideal dissertation supervisor, he approaches him alsmost to perfection. Not only did he work his way through the masses of paperwork delivered to him in the form of interim, prefinal, final, and revised versions with constant enthusiasm, but at the same time he provided me in our frequent talks, whether informal or formal, brief or long, with a sense of purpose and direction. Perhaps I am indebted to him most for those instances where he allowed me the opportunity to follow my sometimes wandering intuitions, did not blame me when they reached a dead end, and shared my elation on those occasions when the result turned out to throw light on previously dark areas. Special thanks also go to the two other members of my dissertation committee, Prof. Dr. B. van den Berg, and Dr. I. Bordelois, for the time they spent in discussing this thesis with me. Three co-confessionists of the past few years deserve special mention.