Umlaut and lowering in Swiss German

Bromberger and Halle (1989) claimed that rule ordering is a necessary part of phonology, but not of syntax, and that phonology and syntax are thus different. Their only synchronic evidence, Canadian Raising, was debunked by Kaye (1990, 2013). This paper shows that another piece of purported evidence, namely Kiparsky’s often cited rule ordering in two dialects of Swiss German fares no better. Both rules are factually wrong and have to be dismissed. With no rules left, nothing can be ordered. I conclude that Kiparsky’s example submits no evidence in favour of Bromberger and Halle’s claim. There is no reason to assume that phonology and syntax should be fundamentally different.