This chapter presents an overview of optimality theory ot as applied to phonology. Idempotency in optimality theory 1 volume 54 issue 1 giorgio magri. Optimality theory in phonology alan prince and paul smolensky 1. The basic principles of optimality theory are introduced and. Mccarthy points out that some of the most significant work on ot is available for free on the rutgers optimality archive. Ot differs from other approaches to phonological analysis, such as autosegmental phonology and linear phonology, which typically use rules rather than constraints. The original version of this framework t1ui would like to thank the three anonymous journal of linguistics referees for all their helpful and constructive comments, which greatly contributed to improving the. Pros and cons of optimality theory optimality theory is a grammar framework with many advantages for phonological analysis. Jan 17, 2017 otsoft is meant to facilitate analysis in optimality theory prince and smolensky 1993 by using algorithms to do work that would have to be done tediously, and perhaps unreliably by hand.
Nov 30, 2016 in this weeks episode, we take a look at optimality theory. The derivational residue in phonological optimality theory linguistik aktuell linguistics today by ben hermans and marc van oostendorp feb 15, 2000. 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. Abstract optimality theory was introduced in the early 1990s as an alternative model of the organization of natural human language sound systems. Semantic scholar extracted view of optimality theory in phonology. This book describes optimality theory from the top down, explaining and exploring the central premises of ot and the results that follow from them. Phonology, syntax, and acquisition oxford linguistics and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Pdf download introducing phonetics and phonology free. Other classes with a p focus in the mit linguistics program include 24. Ovaj clanak uvod je u optimalnosnu teoriju i u nacela njezine primjene u fonologiji. The first addresses recurring issues in phonological and linguistic analysis and sketches how optimality theory might account for these.
The prevailing nonsequential approach to phonology, the optimality theory, ot, is based not on rewrite rules but on constraints. 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. A reader is a collection of readings on this important new theory by leading figures in the field, including a lengthy excerpt from john j. It is a given that no phenomenon can be examined in a completely theory neutral way. Roa, which was created by alan prince in 1993, is an electronic depository of work in, on, or about ot. Optimality theory, in common with much recent work, shifts the burden from the theory of. 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. 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. The fundamental idea behind ot is that surface forms of language. It is a theory that has been most widely accepted in the realm of phonology, but has implications for all areas of linguistics. The following met rical phonological tree and metrical phonological grid struc tures 3 demonstrate the representation of the primary stress in. Ot reclaims traditional grammars ability to express surface generalizations. This book presents the results of research as applied to read more.
View table of contents for optimality theory in 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. First, idempotency is shown to follow from a general formal condition on the faithfulness constraints. Lenition and optimality theory proceedings of lsrl xxiv, feb.
Mccarthy, university of massachusetts, amherst ot does not need to permanently influence linguistic theory. Introduction since kiparsky 1968 generative historical phonology has relied primarily on the following means in accounting for sound change. Cycles, nonderivedenvironment blocking, and correspondence luigi burzio gradient wellformedness in optimality theory bruce p. Phonological acquisition in optimality theory ucla linguistics. This is provided in the further reading sections at the end of each chapter. Optimality theory is grammar about rules or constraints.
Download pdf optimality theory and minimalism free. Autosegmental spreading in optimality theory john j. In this weeks episode, we take a look at optimality theory. The original reference for ot is prince and smolensky 1993. 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. Your book is focused on oldfashioned rewrite rules. Gsc departs from previous harmonic grammar and optimality theory work in. Optimality theory optimality theory to reflect standard usage, this page should be located at optimality theory with both words capitalized rather than optimality theory. Ppt optimality theory powerpoint presentation free to. A number of passages in the text offer guidance in eliciting useful and valid data from native speakers. He has published in journals such as linguistic inquiry, science, cognition, and critical inquiry paul smolensky is professor of cognitive science at johns hopkins university.
Optimality theory in phonological acquisition jhu computer. A reader is a collection of readings on this important new theory by leading figures in the field, including a lengthy excerpt from. Building on tesar, these conditions are derived in two steps. In optimality theory ot the essence of both language learning in general learnability and language acquisition the actual development children go through entails the ranking of constraints from an initial state of the grammar to the languagespecific ranking of the target grammar. This article provides an introduction to the model for the nonlinguist. It is claimed that optimality theory cannot account for phonological opacity see idsardi 2000, for example. The article surveys the fundamental premises of ot as applied to phonology.
If you dont want phonology to be just a technique for datacompression, you have to seek the locus of explanatory action elsewhere prince smolensky, 1993 5 why outputoriented. Optimality theory ot is a wideemployed theoretical framework used in contemporary linguistics. In optimality theory ot, a grammar is a languagespecific ranking of universal, violable constraints, which select the optimal candidate among imperfect alternatives. This paper establishes tight sufficient conditions for idempotency in classical optimality theory. Mccarthy optimality theory in phonology optimality theory. Jan 01, 2004 optimality theory has transformed the field of linguistics more than almost any other development of the past halfcentury, and prince and smolensky started it all. Optimality theoretic representation of stress in cairene. As some editors pointed out in that discussion, optimality theory is typically. It also addresses some frequently asked questions about this theory and offers suggestions. It may seem that generative phonology has come full circle with the rise and development of optimality theory ot. Optimality theory has revolutionized phonological theory, and its insights are now being applied to other central aspects of language.
For each chapter, mccarthy adds brief introductory notes and a list of study and research questions. 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. This new edition includes more discussion of optimality theory and a new glossary of terms. 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. However, ot radically differs from earlier generative models in various ways. In linguistics, optimality theory is a linguistic model proposing that the observed forms of language arise from the optimal satisfaction of conflicting constraints. 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.
Optimality theory in linguistics is the theory that surface forms of language reflect resolutions of conflicts between competing constraints. Optimality theory ot is a linguistic model originally proposed by the linguists alan prince and paul smolensky in 1993. Optimality theory is a general model of how grammars are structured. Optimality theory in phonology a readeredited by john j. 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 theo. 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. A very short introduction to optimality theory, a linguistic framework that attempts to account for the grammar of human languages. Optimality theory and minimalism download optimality theory and minimalism ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. Linguistics lecture uc berkeley introduction to optimality theory in phonology. Optimality theory has been deployed by linguists to analyze all levels of linguistic structure, from phonetics to pragmatics. This article provides an introduction to the model. I also assume a general, contextfree faithfulness constraint for aspiration. Optimality theory is the theory of intuition and intuition doesnt change from one instance to another.
He has published in journals such as linguistic inquiry, science, cognition, and critical inquiry. It espouses a serialist view of morphology that is rejected by most current phonologists. Optimality theory ot shifts the focus of linguistic discovery from rules and derivations to constraints and rankings. The basic formal element of the theory is the constraint. If a hypothesized gen is not free enough, then some inputs might have only.
Optimality theory is a development of generative grammar, a theory sharing its focus on formal description and quest for universal principles, on the basis of empirical research of linguistic typology and first language acquisition. Given the architecture of generative phonology, which distinguishes between underlying lexical forms and surface forms, and given the. Chapter x markedness, faithfulness, positions, and. Optimality theory prince smolensky 1993 optimality theory is a theory of language and grammar in which wellformedness constraints on outputs determine grammaticality. What is clear is that any serious theory of phonology must. This constitutes a viable alternative to the mainstream view on phonological systems, optimality theory 1, which require the presence of innate linguistically specific constraints in the genome to account for universal tendencies an example of constraint is the complex constraint which states. Mccarthy university of massachusetts amherst abstract.
Studies in computational optimality theory, with special. Optimality theory has led to a radical rethinking of autosegmental mapping, delinking, and spreading as they were formulated under the earlier derivational paradigm. Many criticisms of ot are, according to its proponents, based on fundamental misunderstanding of how it works. The very selection of a particular theoretical or analytical framework imposes a structure on the phenomenon to be exam. Alan prince is professor of linguistics and a member of the cognitive science center at rutgers university and is, along with paul smolensky, one of the founders of optimality theory. Optimality theory confronts these issues directly, designing its basic architecture to deal with them.
This article surveys the motivations for ot, its core principles, and the basics of analysis. This relates to the phonology course i teach, in which one of the major assignments is a. Hayes stem stress and peak correspondence in dutch rene kager faithfulness and prosodic circumscription john j. Language acquisition in optimality theory request pdf. Idempotency in optimality theory 1 journal of linguistics.
Pdf abstract optimality theory was introduced in the early 1990s as an. Other than that, i must say that the fact that dep and max are reversed going from the first tableau to the second must be resolved. In derivational phonology, effects that are inexplicable at the surface. Varieties of english, particularly received pronunciation and general american, form the focus of consideration, but aspects of the phonetics and phonology of other languages are discussed as well. A reader is a collection of readings on this important new theory by leading figures in the field, starting with a lengthy excerpt from the original source, prince and smolenskys neverbeforepublished report optimality theory. Ot models grammars as systems that provide mappings from inputs to. Pdf cambridge textbooks in linguistics optimality theory.
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. If you are a student or academic complete our librarian recommendation form to recommend the oxford research encyclopedias to your librarians for an institutional free trial. Optimality theory vs substance free phonology self. Optimality theory has attracted substantial amounts of criticism, most of which is directed at its application to phonology rather than syntax or other fields.
It turns out section 2 that standard proposals for the prospreading markedness constraint make implausible typological. Syllabus introduction to phonology linguistics and. Nov 29, 2016 nicholas rolle lectures at uc berkeley on optimality theory in phonology ling 115 2016. An idempotent phonological grammar maps phonotactically licit forms faithfully to themselves. 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. Click download or read online button to optimality theory and minimalism book pdf for free now. Download pdf optimality theory and minimalism free online.
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