Description
This book describes Optimality Theory from the top down, explaining and exploring the central premises of OT and the results of their praxis. 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 areas of interest. To enhance the book's usefulness for researchers in allied disciplines, the topdown view of OT extends to work on first- and second-language acquisition, phonetics and functional phonology, computational linguistics, historical linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Furthermore, to situate OT for those coming from other traditions, this book also contains much discussion of OT's intellectual origins, its predecessors, and its contemporary competitors. Each chapter concludes with extensive suggestions for further reading, classified by topics, and supplemented by a massive bibliography (over 800 items). The book ends with a list of frequently asked questions about Optimality Theory, with brief answers and pointers to a fuller treatment in the text.
Chapter
1.3 Constraint Interaction
1.3.1 Faithful and Unfaithful Mappings
1.3.2 Homogeneity of Target/Heterogeneity of Process
1.4.1 Ranking Known Constraints
1.4.2 Selecting Informative Candidates
1.4.3 Diagnosing Problems
1.4.4 Positing New Constraints
2 The Context of Optimality Theory
2.1 Developments in Phonological Theory
2.2 Syntactic Theory Contrasted with Phonological Theory
2.3 Rules and Constraints in Phonology and Syntax
3 The Results of Optimality Theory
3.1 Consequences of Markedness/Faithfulness Interaction
3.1.1 The Basics: Ranking Prerequisites for an Unfaithful Mapping
3.1.2 Inventories and Richness of the Base
3.1.2.2 The Duplication Problem, with Examples
3.1.2.3 Absolute Ill-Formedness
3.1.2.4 The Lexicon and Richness of the Base
3.1.2.5 Syntactic Applications
3.1.2.6 Summary and Methodological Remark
3.1.3 Distributional Restrictions
3.1.3.2 Factorial Typology
3.1.3.3 Identical Distribution
3.1.3.4 Complementary Distribution
3.1.3.5 Contextual Neutralization
3.1.3.6 A Syntactic Example: Only-When-Needed Behavior
3.1.4 Processes and Systems of Processes
3.1.4.2 Homogeneity of Target/Heterogeneity of Process
3.1.4.6 Incomplete Process-Specificity of Blocking
3.1.4.7 No Constraint-Specificity of Repair
3.1.4.8 No Construction-Specificity of Interactions
3.1.5 Typology and Universals
3.1.5.2 Architectural Imperatives
3.1.5.3 Universals from Factorial Typology
3.1.5.4 Universals from Fixed Hierarchies
3.2 Consequences of Constraint Violability
3.2.1 Nonuniformity of Structure
3.2.1.3 Opposite Constraints
3.2.1.4 A Summary and Comparative Remarks
3.2.2 Emergence of the Unmarked
3.2.2.2 Comparison with Parameters
3.2.2.3 Comparison with Default Rules
3.2.3 Extremism and Economy
3.3 Consequences of Globality and Parallelism
3.3.1 Globality and Parallelism Explained
3.3.2.1 Consequences of Globality
3.3.2.2 Consequences of Parallelism: Overview
3.3.2.3 Consequences of Parallelism I: Chicken-Egg Effects
3.3.2.4 Consequences of Parallelism II: Top-Down Effects
3.3.2.5 Consequences of Parallelism III:Structurally Remote Interaction
3.3.2.6 Consequences of Parallelism IV:Derivationally Remote Interaction
3.3.2.7 Some Challenges to Remote Interaction
3.3.2.8 Consequences of Parallelism V: Globality Effects
3.3.3 Other Architectures for OT
3.3.3.1 The Context and the Issues
3.3.3.2 Harmonic Serialism
3.3.3.3 Cyclic Evaluation
3.3.3.4 Modular Architectures
3.3.3.5 Other Approaches to Opacity in OT
4 The Connections of Optimality Theory
4.1 Further Issues in OT Syntax
4.1.1 Some Controversial Questions
4.1.2 Absolute Ill-Formedness
4.1.3 Syntactic Optionality
4.2 Learnability and Acquisition
4.2.1 Language Learnability
4.2.2 Language Acquisition
4.3 Formal and Computational Analysis
4.4.2 Formal Constraints and Physical Events
4.4.3 Evaluating Phonological Systems
Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions
Appendix B: Symbols and Abbreviations
A Thematic Guide to Optimality Theory
( Research Surveys in Linguistics )
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