prespecification (n.)

In PROSODIC MORPHOLOGY, in the analysis of REDUPLICATIONS, the name given to a special type of relation between an element on the MELODIC TIER and TEMPLATE position. Invariant prior linking of a melodic element to a template position is said to supplant the RULE-governed linking of an element to the same position (i.e. the element has been prespecified). The notion is not accepted in all accounts of melodic invariance.