Accentuation and empty vowels in Ondarroa Basque: Against the concept of phonological derivation

In Ondarroa Basque there is a lexical distinction between accented and unaccented morphemes. Words containing accented morphemes receive word-penultimate prominence. Other words are unaccented and, in medial position, surface without prominence on any syllable. Phrase-finally, lexically unaccented words receive phrase-penultimate prominence. Interestingly, certain empty vowels are counted for the assignment of phrasal prominence to lexically unaccented words, but not for the placement of lexical accents on the penultimate syllable of the word. This situation is incompatible with the traditional concept of phonological derivation. On the other hand, the facts receive a straightforward account in terms of constraints operating on surface patterns.