Optimality Theory Phonology, Syntax, and Acquisition

by Dekkers, Joost; Leeuw, Frank van der; Weijer, Jeroen van de

• ISBN13: 9780198238447
• ISBN10: 0198238444
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-28
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

The introduction of Optimality Theory (OT) by Prince and Smolenski in 1995 is frequently seen as the most important development in generative grammar of the 1990s. It has profoundly changed the understanding of sound systems; it has given a new impetus to the study of language acqusition; andits potential for the discovery and explanation of the universal properties of language is increasingly recognized. OT subsitutes constraints for rules in universal grammar and linguistic performance. Constraints are ranked so that a a lower-ranked constraint may be violated in order to satisfy ahigher. The assumption that constraints are vioable can be considered as the formal correlate of linguistic tendencies, whereas their ranking expresses the degree to which individual languages exhibit these tendencies. OT may thus be used to describe the characteristics of any language, but it is as yet too general to provide a substantive theory of grammar. In this book a range of scholars consider the specific properties that an OT grammar should have. After an extensive introduction, the volume is divided intofour parts. Parts One and Two are concerned respectively with prosodic representations and segmental phonology. Parts Three and Four then consider the application of OT to syntax and syntatic theory and to language acquistion and learnability. This wide-ranging collection of new work by leading scholars from the USA and Europe will interest linguists and postgraduate students in all the main fields of discipline. Its insights and the research it reports will also be valuable to those whose theoretical position is apparently at odds withthe principles of OT.

Table of Contents

Introduction---Optimality Theory: Phonology, Syntax, and Acquisition	1	(1)
Paul Boersma
Joost Dekkers
Jeroen van de Weijer
General Introduction	1	(3)
Optimality-Theoretic Phonology	4	(5)
Optimality-Theoretic Syntax	9	(16)
Learning in Optimality Theory	25	(22)
Part One Phonology: Prosodic Representation
Cycles, Non-Derived-Environment Blocking, and Correspondence	47	(41)
Luigi Burzio
Introduction	47	(2)
Cyclic Effects	49	(4)
The Input Versus Underlying Representation	53	(11)
Derived Environments	64	(19)
Conclusion	83	(5)
Gradient Well-Formedness in Optimality Theory	88	(33)
Bruce P. Hayes
The Gradience Problem	88	(1)
The Proposal	89	(3)
Case Study: English Light and Dark /1/	92	(21)
The Origin of Gradient Well-Formedness	113	(3)
Conclusions: Advantages of Analysing Gradiently	116	(5)
Stem Stress and Peak Correspondence in Dutch	121	(30)
Rene Kager
Introduction	121	(7)
Stem Stress in Affixed Forms and Compounds	128	(4)
`Stress-Neutral' Adjectival Suffixes	132	(5)
`Stress-Shifting' Adjectival Suffixes	137	(7)
A Summary of the Analysis	144	(1)
Conclusions	145	(6)
Faithfulness and Prosodic Circumscription	151	(42)
John J. McCarthy
Introduction	151	(1)
Operational Prosodic Circumscription	152	(5)
Prosodic Faithfulness	157	(4)
Prosodic Circumscription as Prosodic Anchoring	161	(12)
Prosodic Circumscription as Moraic Faithfulness: The Arabic Broken Plural	173	(9)
Conclusion	182	(1)
Appendix: Anchoring Constraints	182	(11)
Part Two Phonology: Segmental Phonology
Loan Phonology: Perception, Salience, the Lexicon and Optimality Theory	193	(18)
Haike Jacobs
Carlos Gussenhoven
Introduction	193	(1)
Loanword Phonology: Rule-Based Versus Constraint-Based	194	(4)
Loanword Phonology: OT All the Way	198	(11)
Summary	209	(2)
Derivational Residue: Hidden Rules in Optimality Theory	211	(23)
Darlene LaCharite
Carole Paradis
Introduction	211	(2)
The Decline of SPE-Type Rules	213	(5)
OT and the Insertion and Deletion of Content and Structure	218	(10)
Lifting the Restrictions on GEN	228	(1)
Conclusion	229	(5)
Dependency Theory Meets OT: A Proposal for a New Approach to Segmental Structure	234	(45)
Norval Smith
Introduction	234	(1)
Features in OT	235	(3)
Dutch Dependency Phonology	238	(4)
The present model	242	(31)
Conclusion	273	(6)
Part Three Syntax
Absolute Ungrammaticality	279	(23)
Peter Ackema
Ad Neeleman
Introduction	279	(1)
The Null Parse and Parse Constraints	280	(2)
Multiple Wh-Questions	282	(2)
Passive	284	(5)
Imperfect Periphrastic Passives	289	(4)
Superfluous Auxiliaries	293	(2)
Partial Underparsing	295	(2)
The Non-Interaction of Parse Constraints	297	(5)
Towards an Optimal Account of Second-Position Phenomena	302	(32)
Stephen R. Anderson
Introduction	302	(2)
A View of Clitics	304	(2)
Can the Syntax be Responsible for the Placement of Clitics?	306	(7)
Clitic Ordering and Optimality	313	(6)
The Nature of `Second Position'	319	(4)
Back to Verb-Second	323	(7)
Conclusion	330	(4)
Optimal Syntax	334	(52)
Joan Bresnan
Introduction	334	(4)
Recasting Grimshaw's (1997) Framework	338	(13)
Deriving Grimshaw's Results	351	(21)
Evidence for Imperfect Correspondence	372	(5)
Discussion	377	(3)
Conclusion	380	(6)
The Minimalist Program and Optimality Theory: Derivations and Evaluations	386	(37)
Hans Broekhuis
Joost Dekkers
Introduction	386	(1)
A Model of Grammar	387	(4)
The Left Periphery of Finite Relative Clauses	391	(17)
The Left Periphery of Infinitival Relative Clauses	408	(10)
Conclusion	418	(5)
Morphological and Prosodic Alignment of Bulgarian Clitics	423	(42)
Geraldine Legendre
Introduction	423	(3)
Are Clitics in the Syntax?	426	(8)
Alignment-based Morphology	434	(16)
Further Prosodic Alignment	450	(8)
Conclusion	458	(7)
Part Four Acquisition
Learning a Grammar in Functional Phonology	465	(59)
Paul Boersma
Functional Phonology	465	(5)
Learning in Functional Phonology	470	(25)
Example: The Acquisition of Tongue-Root Harmony	495	(17)
Comparison with Other Learning Algorithms	512	(4)
Algorithm	516	(1)
Proof of Correctness	517	(2)
Acquisition Time	519	(1)
Conclusion	520	(4)
The Universal Constraint Set: Convention, not Fact	524	(30)
T. Mark Ellison
Optimality Theory and Universals	525	(2)
Empirical Evidence	527	(4)
Restrictiveness	531	(3)
Simplicity	534	(4)
Markedness and Acquisition	538	(4)
Learnability	542	(6)
Convention	548	(1)
Conclusion	549	(5)
Learning Phonology: Genetic Algorithms and Yoruba Tongue-Root Harmony	554	(38)
Douglas Pulleyblank
William J. Turkel
Introduction	554	(1)
The Structure of an Optimality-Theoretic Grammar and the Nature of the Acquisition Problem	555	(4)
Acquisition as Combinatorial Optimization	559	(3)
Finding OT Constraint Rankings with a Genetic Algorithm	562	(6)
The Application of Genetic Algorithms to Optimality Theory	568	(2)
The Grammars of Standard Yoruba and Absolute Alignment	570	(5)
Implementation	575	(5)
Results for Standard Yoruba and Absolute Alignment	580	(8)
Results and General Conclusion	588	(4)
On the Roles of Optimality and Strict Domination in Language Learning	592	(29)
Bruce Tesar
The Challenges of Learning	593	(4)
Optimization in Learning and Processing	597	(5)
Using Strict Domination to Guide the Search	602	(7)
Using Optimality to Compensate for Incomplete Data	609	(7)
Further Issues	616	(2)
Summary	618	(3)
Subject Index	621	(5)
Index of Languages	626	(2)
Index of Names	628