Doing Optimality Theory Applying Theory to Data

by McCarthy, John J.

• ISBN13: 9781405151351
• ISBN10: 1405151358
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-05-12
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Optimality Theory revolutionized the field of phonology and had a huge impact on linguistics in general when it was first proposed in 1993. In Doing Optimality Theory, one of the key proponents of the theory explains how to do analysis and research using this model. Because the basic premises of OT are markedly different from other linguistic theories, new analytic techniques and new ways of thinking and theorizing are required. This unique work presents practical, in-depth advice for students in the field in an engaging and accessible way. McCarthy illustrates his advice with specific examples throughout, and summarizes the core concepts of OT so that the book is geared for an audience both novice and advanced. Numerous questions and exercises throughout are designed to give readers an in-depth understanding of the material. Doing Optimality Theory is an ideal guide through the intricacies of linguistic analysis and research for an audience of both advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and, by example, will lead the way to future developments in the field.

Author Biography

John J. McCarthy is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His widely cited but unpublished manuscript "Prosodic Morphology I: Constraint Interaction and Satisfaction" (with Alan Prince, 1993) has been an important factor in the dissemination of Optimality Theory.He is also the author of Formal Problems in Semitic Phonology and Morphology (1985), A Thematic Guide to Optimality Theory (2002), and Hidden Generalizations: Phonological Opacity in Optimality Theory (2007), as well as the editor of Optimality Theory in Phonology: A Reader (Blackwell, 2004).

Table of Contents

An Introduction to Optimality Theory

How OT Began

Why must Constraints Be Violable?

The Nature of Constraints in OT

Candidate Sets: OT's Gen Component

Candidate Evaluation: OT's Eval Component

Constraint Activity

Differences Between Languages

The Version of OT Discussed in This Book

Suggestions for Further Reading

Notes

How to Construct an Analysis

Where to Begin

How to Rank Constraints

Working through an Analysis in Phonology

The Limits of Ranking Arguments

Candidates in Ranking Arguments

Harmonic Bounding

Constraints in Ranking Arguments

Inputs in Ranking Arguments

Working through an Analysis in Syntax

Finding and Fixing Problems in an Analysis

Constraint Ranking by Algorithm and Computer

The Logic of Constraint Ranking and Its Uses

Notes

How to Write Up an Analysis

Introduction

How to Organize a Paper

How to Present an OT analysis

The Responsibilities of Good Scholarship

How to Write Clearly

General Advice about Research Topics

Notes

Developing New Constraints

Introduction

When Is It Necessary to Modify Con?

How to Discover a New Constraint

How to Define a New Constraint

Properties of Markedness Constraints

Properties of Faithfulness Constraints

Justifying Constraints

A Classified List of Common Phonological Markedness Constraints

Notes

Language Typology and Universals

Factorial Typology

Languages Universals and How to Explain Them in OT

Investigating the Factorial Typology of a Constraint Set

Using Factorial Typology to Test New Constraints

Factorial Typology When Con Isn't Fully Known

How to Proceed from Typology to Constraints

Notes

Some Current Research Questions

Introduction

How Does a Language Vary?

How Is Language Acquired?

Does OT Need Derivations?

How Is Ungrammaticality Accounted For?

Is Faithfulness Enough?

Notes

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