Here are some relatively straightforward examples, courtesy of Adrian Staubs, of why language is not “beads on a string”. In phonology, see the Daland et al. paper we read, Iris Berent’s work, long-distance dependencies, the prosodic hierarchy, etc.

“I’ve always been partial to the old Crain and Nakayama examples from yes-no question formation:

The boy is riding the bike.
Is the boy riding the bike?
The boy who is my neighbor is riding the bike.
*Is the boy who my neighbor is riding the bike?

Also (though the facts are complicated) I sometimes find people have a real ‘aha’ moment with wanna-contraction:

Who do you want to visit?
Who do you wanna visit?
Who do you want to visit Steve?
*Who do you wanna visit Steve?”