Doing Optimality Theory : Applying Theory to Data

by McCarthy, John J.

• ISBN13: 9781405151368
• ISBN10: 1405151366
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-19
• Publisher: Wiley

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 His widely cited but unpublished manuscript "Prosodic Morphology I: Constraint Interaction and Satisfaction" (with Alan Prince, 1993) has been an important factor in the dissemination of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

Acknowledgments	p. viii
Read This First!	p. x
List of Abbreviations	p. xii
An Introduction to Optimality Theory	p. 1
How OT Began	p. 1
Why Must Constraints Be Violable?	p. 7
The Nature of Constraints in OT	p. 13
Candidate Sets: OT's Gen Component	p. 16
Candidate Evaluation: OT's Eval Component	p. 19
Constraint Activity	p. 22
Differences between Languages	p. 26
The Version of OT Discussed in This Book	p. 27
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 28
How to Construct an Analysis	p. 30
Where to Begin	p. 30
Choosing a problem to work on	p. 30
Formulating a descriptive generalization	p. 33
Getting from the generalization to an analysis	p. 37
Summary	p. 39
How to Rank Constraints	p. 41
Working through an Analysis in Phonology	p. 53
The Limits of Ranking Arguments	p. 65
Candidates in Ranking Arguments	p. 72
Harmonic Bounding	p. 80
Constraints in Ranking Arguments	p. 83
Inputs in Ranking Arguments	p. 87
Working through an Analysis in Syntax	p. 95
Finding and Fixing Problems in an Analysis	p. 103
How to check an analysis for problems	p. 103
Problem 1: An invalid ranking argument	p. 108
Problem 2: A ranking paradox	p. 109
Problem 3: Dealing with richness of the base	p. 113
Constraint Ranking by Algorithm and Computer	p. 115
The Logic of Constraint Ranking and Its Uses	p. 124
How to Write Up an Analysis	p. 137
Introduction	p. 137
How to Organize a Paper	p. 138
How to Present an OT Analysis	p. 142
The Responsibilities of Good Scholarship	p. 152
How to Write Clearly	p. 157
General Advice about Research Topics	p. 162
Developing New Constraints	p. 166
Introduction	p. 166
When Is It Necessary to Modify Con?	p. 167
How to Discover a New Constraint	p. 171
How to Define a New Constraint	p. 174
Properties of Markedness Constraints	p. 176
How markedness constraints assign violations	p. 176
Constraints that are evaluated gradiently	p. 181
Constraints derived by harmonic alignment	p. 186
Properties of Faithfulness Constraints	p. 195
Correspondence theory	p. 195
Faithfulness to features	p. 199
Positional faithfulness	p. 203
Faithfulness constraints in the early OT literature	p. 208
Justifying Constraints	p. 212
The three ways of justifying a constraint	p. 212
Justifying constraints formally	p. 213
Justifying constraints functionally	p. 220
A Classified List of Common Phonological Markedness Constraints	p. 223
Language Typology and Universals	p. 235
Factorial Typology	p. 235
Language Universals and How to Explain Them in OT	p. 236
Investigating the Factorial Typology of a Constraint Set	p. 239
Using Factorial Typology to Test New Constraints	p. 247
Factorial Typology When Con Isn't Fully Known	p. 250
How to Proceed from Typology to Constraints	p. 254
Some Current Research Questions	p. 260
Introduction	p. 260
How Does a Language Vary?	p. 260
How is Language Acquired?	p. 264
Does OT Need Derivations?	p. 266
How Is Ungrammaticality Accounted For?	p. 271
Is Faithfulness Enough?	p. 274
Afterword	p. 279
References	p. 280
Constraint Index	p. 298
Language Index	p. 301
Subject Index	p. 303
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