elsewhere condition

A principle used in LEXICAL PHONOLOGY which states that, when two principles of operation are in conflict at a certain point in a DERIVATION, the one whose domain of operation is more restricted has priority of action. For example, if all OBSTRUENTS are VOICELESS in a language, and all AFFRICATES are VOICED, the latter statement will have priority over the former, in the case of a particular ALVEO-PALATAL affricate. The second statement, being more specific, has priority over the more general statement, which thus applies only in contexts where the specific statements do not obtain – in other words, ‘elsewhere’.