It also addresses some frequently asked questions about this theory and offers suggestions. Rene kagers textbook is one of the rst to cover optimality theory ot, a declarative grammar framework that swiftly took over phonology afterit was introduced by prince, smolensky, and mccarthy in 1993. Constraints and representations lombardi, linda on. These notes explain the procedures and assumptions behind a valuable technique using in studying adaptation called optimality theory. What are the advantages disadvantages of a rulebased method of phonological analysis over competing methods such as optimality theory. Notes on optimality theory college of the holy cross. This article surveys the motivations for ot, its core principles, and the basics of analysis. The basic formal element of the theory is the constraint.
Remarks on optimality theory and language change 3 1996 and hutton 1996, and among the first dissertations were those by gess 1996, on latin to old french and holt 1997, on latin to hispanoromance. Therefore, d cannot be the optimal candidate under any ranking of just these three constraints, though it could be optimal with a larger constraint set. The book sustains an extended argument for the longstanding approach of the project. The phonology of japanese features about 15 consonant phonemes, the crosslinguistically typical fivevowel system of a, i, u, e, o, and a relatively simple phonotactic distribution of phonemes allowing few consonant clusters. A very short introduction to optimality theory, a linguistic framework that attempts to account for the grammar of human languages. Formal comparison and synthesis russell james norton a thesis submitted for the degree of doctor of philosophy. On the nature of the input in optimality theory 349 note that the input is crucial for this analysis, since a violation of faithfulness i. Arising from the application of optimality theory ot to issues of language acquisition, the term stratum may represent i a single constraint, and therefore the strict ranking proposed by standard ot, as shown especially in research using data of the target language, or ii a group of constraints which do not present a fixed ranking among. The first addresses recurring issues in phonological and linguistic analysis and sketches how optimality.
The role of optimality theory and inductive grounding1 bruce p. Ovaj clanak uvod je u optimalnosnu teoriju i u nacela njezine primjene u fonologiji. Kager 1999 gives an entrylevel introduction to ot, mccarthy 2001 surveys. Candidate d, however is harmonically bounded by a, and by c. Mark ellison centre for cognitive science, university of edinburgh 2 buccleuch place, edinburgh eh8 9lw, scotland sulnmary. Although much of the interest in ot has been associated with its use in phonology the area to which ot was first applied, the theory is also applicable to other subfields of. Language acquisition in optimality theory request pdf. To introduce ot syntax to phonologists, this pape r shows how syntax benefits from the addition of optimality theory in the analysis of four kinds of complex phenomenon. Optimality theory was introduced in the 1990s by linguists alan prince and paul smolensky optimality theory.
Jan 29, 2017 this is hard to say because people add their own obscure proposals all the time. Other classes with a p focus in the mit linguistics program include 24. The innovation of optimality theory ot is to view grammars as a set of ranked violable constraints. Though originally developed from generative phonology, the principles of optimality theory have also been applied in studies of syntax, morphology, pragmatics, language change, and other areas. Optimality theory is a general model of how grammars are structured. Rutgers optimality archive 944, 20071111 phonetic sciences. Pdf on the nature of the input in optimality theory. Optimality theory is a theory of phonology that drops chomskyan replacement rules in favor of a set of ranked constraints. Many criticisms of ot are, according to its proponents, based on fundamental misunderstanding of how it works. How many phonological constraints are there in optimality. Pay particular attention to the critiques of optimality theory. It can lead to much more elegant analyses in some cases.
Case, agreement, object shift, and economy of structure and movement. Although optimality theory prince and smolensky 19932004 has no direct equivalent to spreading rules, ot markedness constraints that favor candidates with spreading have been used in analyses of harmony phenomena. This relates to the phonology course i teach, in which one of the major assignments is a. Optimality theory is grammar about rules or constraints. This article surveys research in spanish phonology from the perspective of optimality theory, a formal linguistic framework based on ranked and violable constraints.
Optimality theory in phonology is a textbook for an advancedlevel phonology course that contains excerpts from 33 important articles and manuscripts on optimality theory ot. As some editors pointed out in that discussion, optimality theory is typically written with both words capitalized in the. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Minimalism and optimality theory hans broekhuis and ellen woolford to appear in the cambridge handbook of generative syntax final version. The ranking, but not the constraints, differs from language to language. Nov 30, 2016 in this weeks episode, we take a look at optimality theory. Optimality theory confronts these issues directly, designing its basic architecture to deal with them. Pdf the interaction of tone and stress in optimality theory. For our purposes, it will be convenient to classify phonological changes under two headings, roughly corresponding to the. In linguistics, optimality theory frequently abbreviated ot. Optimality theory optimality theory prince and smolensky 1993 ot is a theory of constraint interaction.
Cycles, nonderivedenvironment blocking, and correspondence luigi burzio gradient wellformedness in optimality theory bruce p. In contrast, it is still an open question what the input consists of in optimality theoretic syntax. Introduction to ot syntax ellen woolford university of massachusetts amherst abstract. The proper treatment of optimality in computational phonology. This is a preprint version of an article to appear in. Though originally developed from generative phonology, the principles of optimality theory have also been applied in studies of syntax, morphology, pragmatics, language change, and other. However, i dont understand how optimality theory can deal with phonological opacity.
In class we mainly approached phonology from a rulebased perspective, and were breifly told of ots constraintbased approach in passing. August 1997 written for the proceedings volume of the 1996 milwaukee conference on formalism and functionalism in linguistics abstract functionalist phonetic literature has shown how the phonologies of human languages are. A number of passages in the text offer guidance in eliciting useful and valid data from native speakers. Optimality theory is a complex linguistic model of constraintbased patterns and markedness hierarchies and it is billed clearly as nativist. In optimality theoretic phonology, it is usually assumed that the input is an underlying representation henceforth ur. Unlike previous treatments of optimality in computational linguistics, starting with ellison 1994. This is provided in the further reading sections at the end of each chapter. Pdf optimality theory and phonological acquisition researchgate. The 33 selections cover a broad range of topics in phonology and include many of the. The full text of this article hosted at is unavailable due to technical difficulties. Ot provides new angles on longstanding diachronic questions, whilst historical data and models of change bear directly on the assessment of ot.
Optimality theory on acquisition research, and this paper will therefore focus. Davies taught me the dynamism of human languages that is, how messy languages are, and gave me a valuable lesson that no linguistic theory is viable if we overlook the data. Theoretical insights from ot enrich our understanding of spanish phonology, and spanish data also figure prominently in the latest theoretical developments within ot. In this chapter, the aspects of combining computational linguistics and optimality. A reader is a collection of readings on this important new theory by leading figures in the field, including a lengthy excerpt from prince and smolenskys neverbeforepublished optimality theory. December 9, 2010 1 introduction this chapter discusses the relation between the minimalist program mp and optimality theory ot and will show that, contrary to popular belief, mp and ot are not inherently. Optimality theory ot shifts the focus of linguistic discovery from rules and derivations to constraints and rankings. Given that the basic premises of optimality theory are markedly different from other linguistic theories, this book presents the analytic techniques and new ways of thinking and theorizing that are required.
These constraints are assumed to be universal, and the difference between child phonology and adult phonology, and between the grammars of different languages, now lies in differences in the ranking of the constraints. Optimality theory optimality theory to reflect standard usage, this page should be located at optimality theory with both words capitalized rather than optimality theory. Optimality theory in phonological acquisition journal of. Compiles the most important readings about optimality theory in phonology from some of the most prominent researchers. Clinical application of optimality theory 243 optimality theory is. In optimality theory ot an adult phonology consists of a set of ranked constraints. Given the architecture of generative phonology, which distinguishes between underlying lexical forms and surface forms, and given the. Bradley university of california, davis abstract this article surveys research in spanish phonology from the perspective of optimality theory, a formal linguistic framework based on ranked and violable constraints. This tutorial presents an introduction to the contemporary linguistic framework known as optimality theory ot. Optimality theory has drawn a good deal of criticism, most of which is directed at its application to phonology rather than syntax or other fields. Project muse optimality theory, phonological acquisition. One point, already mentioned above, is the fact that ot has incorporated notions like markedness and output constraint which already played an important role in studies on child language phonology. Formal comparison and synthesis russell james norton a thesis submitted for the degree of doctor of philosophy department of language and linguistics university of essex july 2003. What does optimality theory explain that rulebased phonology.
This paper presents a novel formalization of optimality theory. Pdf abstract optimality theory was introduced in the early 1990s as an alternative model of the. Constraints are the two approaches equivalent or are they fundamentally different. It turns out section 2 that standard proposals for the prospreading markedness constraint make implausible typological. This chapter presents an overview of optimality theory ot as applied to phonology. The main idea is that grammars impose a set of restrictions on what are valid surface forms. For each chapter, mccarthy adds brief introductory notes and a list of study and. As the theory of representations in syntax has ramified, the theory of operations has dwindled in content, even to triviality and, for some, nonexistence. Optimality theory makes two particular strong points for acquisition research. Linear or nonlinear linearis a theory of the sound structure of human languges. What are the advantages disadvantages of a rulebased.
Optimality theory ot is a linguistic model originally proposed by the linguists alan prince and paul smolensky in 1993. The basic assumptions of this constraintbased theory as a general model of grammar. Optimality theory and computational linguistics institut fur. Theory, in which markedness has no substantive status in the grammar, but functions as an external system of annotations on parameter values, evaluating a grammars complexity. Your book is focused on oldfashioned rewrite rules. It espouses a serialist view of morphology that is rejected by most current phonologists. What does optimality theory explain that rulebased. The interaction of tone and stress in optimality theory both candidates is the same, so there is no straightforward way to determine which of these two is the winner. In this article we consider the notion of input in optimality theory in more detail. Syllabus introduction to phonology linguistics and.
Ot reclaims traditional grammars ability to express surface generalizations. The prevailing nonsequential approach to phonology, the optimality theory, ot, is based not on rewrite rules but on constraints. Im guessing, though, that there are good reasons why it arose. Examples are drawn from phonology, morphology, and syntax, but the emphasis throughout is on the theory rather than the examples, on understanding what is special about ot and on equipping readers to apply it, extend it, and critique it in their own. When numbers combine to form teens and tens, an intrusive consonant is found. Ot is a theory of constraint interaction in grammar, which aims to solve a couple of problems that have confronted generative phonological theory since its earliest days. So what phonological patterns does optimality theory explain that rulebased phonology doesnt.
This book describes optimality theory from the top down, explaining and exploring the central premises of ot and the results of their praxis. In ot there is the possibility to combine the constraints onset. It is a theory that has been most widely accepted in the realm of phonology, but has implications for all areas of linguistics. In the spirit of the subtitle of the book applying theory to data, section 2. Optimality theory is a constraintbased iheoly of phonology which allows constraints to conllict aad to be violated.
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