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94 The phonological nature of the beginning of the wordFurthermore, since a strong position appears after a governed emptynucleus, soft labials are not only two separate consonants — they aretwo heterosyllabic consonants separated by a governed empty nucleus(48a).(48) a. PG b. Gvt.(C V 0)C 1|pV 1|PC 2|j>‚V 2|aC|sV 3|eC|kV 4|P(C V 0)C|jV 1|aC|pV 2|PC|kV 3|oLic. Lic.The initial empty CV unit in (48a) is inactive, hence the nucleus V 0doesnot require a governor. This means that the empty nucleus between /pj/can be properly governed by the following nucleus V 2. Now, the reasonwhy the glide reacts in this position is the fact that it escapes governmentwhile being licensed — a typical strong position. In (48b), on theother hand, the initial consonant is both licensed and governed, thus theposition is weak. In other words, the initial position in (48b) is identicalto the intervocalic one and hence the glide does not react. This is thereason why the word-initial /j/ is never strengthened to a prepalatal fricativein the dialect.To sum up, the explanation of the Kurp facts is possible only on twoconditions. Firstly, the initial empty CV unit is inactive in Polish. Secondly,soft labials are two separate segments. Note that it could be claimedthat since the labial consonant plus the glide resemble a typical TR cluster,they should contract the IG relation. However, were that the case,the glide would occur in a weak position as it would be both governedand licensed. This is because an empty nucleus enclosed in the domain ofIG does not require an external governor; it can remain empty for a differentreason, namely, it is sandwiched between two consonants holdinga governing relation. Thus, a vowel following the IG relation both governsand licenses the immediately preceding consonant. The heterosyllabicstatus of a labial consonant plus the glide is independently confirmedby a frequent, non-obligatory cluster simplification phenomenonwhich can be observed in this dialect. It affects only labial fricativesand a labial nasal [f], [v], [m], while the labial plosives [p/b] are neverdropped. Consider again the forms presented under (43) repeated herefor convenience.