  We consider a new approach to fermion masses and mixings in which no special
"horizontal" dynamics is invoked to account for the hierarchical pattern of
charged fermion masses and for the peculiar features of neutrino masses. The
hierarchy follows from the vertical, family-independent structure of the model,
in particular from the breaking pattern of the Pati-Salam group. The lightness
of the first two fermion families can be related to two family symmetries
emerging in this context as accidental symmetries.
