A Thematic Guide to Optimality Theory

by John J. McCarthy

• ISBN13: 9780521791946
• ISBN10: 0521791944
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-24
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book describes Optimality Theory from the top down, explaining and exploring the central premises of OT and the results that follow from them. 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. The book's coverage extends to work on first- and second-language acquisition, phonetics and functional phonology, computational linguistics, historical linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Chapters conclude with extensive suggestions for further reading, classified by topic, and are supplemented by a massive bibliography (over 800 items).

Author Biography

John J. McCarthy began his work on Optimality Theory in 1992, when he received a Guggenheim Fellowship to support his research on prosodic morphology

Table of Contents

Introduction: an overview of optimality theory

Part I. Core: 1. Basic architecture

2. Constraint typology

3. Modes of interaction

4. Illustration

Part II. Context: 5. Classic generative phonology

6. Conspiracies

7. Representations and constraints on representations

8. Other constraint theories (TCRS, DP, etc.)

Part III. Results: 9. Endogenous constraints

10. Consequences of markedness/faithfulness interaction

11. Consequences of constraint violability

12. Consequences of parallelism

Part IV. Connections: 13. Learnability and acquisition

14. Parsing

Morphology and the lexicon

15. Syntax and semantics

16. Language variation and change

Part V. Issues and prospects: 17. Functionalism

18. Opacity

19. Serial OT

20. Local conjunction

21. 'Overkill'

22. Other topics.