Optimality Theory

Optimality Theory PDF Author: Rene Kager
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521589802
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
This is an introduction to Optimality Theory, whose central idea is that surface forms of language reflect resolutions of conflicts between competing constraints. A surface form is 'optimal' if it incurs the least serious violations of a set of constraints, taking into account their hierarchical ranking. Languages differ in the ranking of constraints; and any violations must be minimal. The book does not limit its empirical scope to phonological phenomena, but also contains chapters on the learnability of OT grammars; OT's implications for syntax; and other issues such as opacity. It also reviews in detail a selection of the considerable research output which OT has already produced. Exercises accompany chapters 1-7, and there are sections on further reading. Optimality Theory will be welcomed by any linguist with a basic knowledge of derivational Generative Phonology.

Optimality Theory

Optimality Theory PDF Author: Rene Kager
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521589802
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 472

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is an introduction to Optimality Theory, whose central idea is that surface forms of language reflect resolutions of conflicts between competing constraints. A surface form is 'optimal' if it incurs the least serious violations of a set of constraints, taking into account their hierarchical ranking. Languages differ in the ranking of constraints; and any violations must be minimal. The book does not limit its empirical scope to phonological phenomena, but also contains chapters on the learnability of OT grammars; OT's implications for syntax; and other issues such as opacity. It also reviews in detail a selection of the considerable research output which OT has already produced. Exercises accompany chapters 1-7, and there are sections on further reading. Optimality Theory will be welcomed by any linguist with a basic knowledge of derivational Generative Phonology.

Optimality Theory

Optimality Theory PDF Author: Alan Prince
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470759399
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
This book is the final version of the widely-circulated 1993 Technical Report that introduces a conception of grammar in which well-formedness is defined as optimality with respect to a ranked set of universal constraints. Final version of the widely circulated 1993 Technical Report that was the seminal work in Optimality Theory, never before available in book format. Serves as an excellent introduction to the principles and practice of Optimality Theory. Offers proposals and analytic commentary that suggest many directions for further development for the professional.

Optimality Theory in Phonology

Optimality Theory in Phonology PDF Author: John J. McCarthy
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470755520
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 624

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Book Description
Optimality Theory in Phonology: 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 Smolensky’s never-before-published Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Compiles the most important readings about Optimality Theory in phonology from some of the most prominent researchers in the field. Contains 33 excerpts spanning a range of topics in phonology and including many never-before-published papers. Includes a lengthy excerpt from Prince and Smolensky’s foundational 1993 manuscript Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Includes introductory notes and study/research questions for each chapter.

Metrical Phonology

Metrical Phonology PDF Author: Richard M. Hogg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521316514
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Introduces the theory of metrical phonology, one of the most exciting recent developments in linguistic theory.

Learnability in Optimality Theory

Learnability in Optimality Theory PDF Author: Bruce Tesar
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262264884
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
Highlighting the close relationship between linguistic explanation and learnability, Bruce Tesar and Paul Smolensky examine the implications of Optimality Theory (OT) for language learnability. Highlighting the close relationship between linguistic explanation and learnability, Bruce Tesar and Paul Smolensky examine the implications of Optimality Theory (OT) for language learnability. They show how the core principles of OT lead to the learning principle of constraint demotion, the basis for a family of algorithms that infer constraint rankings from linguistic forms. Of primary concern to the authors are the ambiguity of the data received by the learner and the resulting interdependence of the core grammar and the structural analysis of overt linguistic forms. The authors argue that iterative approaches to interdependencies, inspired by work in statistical learning theory, can be successfully adapted to address the interdependencies of language learning. Both OT and Constraint Demotion play critical roles in their adaptation. The authors support their findings both formally and through simulations. They also illustrate how their approach could be extended to other language learning issues, including subset relations and the learning of phonological underlying forms.

Language Acquisition, Metrical Theory, and Optimality

Language Acquisition, Metrical Theory, and Optimality PDF Author: Dominique Nouveau
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description


The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology

The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology PDF Author: Paul de Lacy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139462059
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 660

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Book Description
Phonology - the study of how the sounds of speech are represented in our minds - is one of the core areas of linguistic theory, and is central to the study of human language. This handbook brings together the world's leading experts in phonology to present the most comprehensive and detailed overview of the field. Focusing on research and the most influential theories, the authors discuss each of the central issues in phonological theory, explore a variety of empirical phenomena, and show how phonology interacts with other aspects of language such as syntax, morphology, phonetics, and language acquisition. Providing a one-stop guide to every aspect of this important field, The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology will serve as an invaluable source of readings for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, an informative overview for linguists and a useful starting point for anyone beginning phonological research.

Optimality Theory and Language Change

Optimality Theory and Language Change PDF Author: D.E. Holt
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401001952
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
This work discusses many optimization and linguistic issues in great detail. It treats the history of a variety of languages, including English, French, Germanic, Galician/ Portuguese, Latin, Russian, and Spanish and shows that the application of Optimality Theory allows for innovative and improved analyses. It contains a complete bibliography on OT and language change. It is of interest to historical linguists, researchers into OT and linguistic theory, and phonologists and syntacticians with an interest in historical change.

A Thematic Guide to Optimality Theory

A Thematic Guide to Optimality Theory PDF Author: John J. McCarthy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521796446
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Explains and explores the central premises of OT and the results of their praxis.

Metrical Stress Theory

Metrical Stress Theory PDF Author: Bruce Hayes
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226321035
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
In this account of metrical stress theory, Bruce Hayes builds on the notion that stress constitutes linguistic rhythm—that stress patterns are rhythmically organized, and that formal structures proposed for rhythm can provide a suitable account of stress. Through an extensive typological survey of word stress rules that uncovers widespread asymmetries, he identifies a fundamental distinction between iambic and trochaic rhythm, called the "Iambic/Trochaic law," and argues that it has pervasive effects among the rules and structures responsible for stress. Hayes incorporates the iambic/trochaic opposition into a general theory of word stress assignment, intended to account for all languages in which stress is assigned on phonological as opposed to morphological principles. His theory addresses particularly problematic areas in metrical work, such as ternary stress and unusual weight distinctions, and he proposes new theoretical accounts of them. Attempting to take more seriously the claim of generative grammar to be an account of linguistic universals, Hayes proposes analyses for the stress patterns of over 150 languages. Hayes compares his own innovative views with alternatives from the literature, allowing students to gain an overview of the field. Metrical Stress Theory should interest all who seek to understand the role of stress in language.