It arose in part as an alternative to the connectionist theory of harmonic grammar, developed in 1990 by geraldine legendre, yoshiro miyata and paul smolensky. Surface forms of language reflect resolutions of conflicts between competing demands or constraints. Theory, in which markedness has no substantive status in the grammar, but functions as an external system of annotations on parameter values, evaluating a grammars complexity. The approach based on optimality models in biology is sometimes called optimality theory. In linguistics, the theory that surfaceforms of languagereflect resolutions of conflicts between competing constraintsi. Optimality theory relies on a conceptually simple but surprisingly rich notion of constraint interaction whereby the satisfaction of one constraint can be designated to take absolute priority over the satisfaction of another. In this paper, we address this research gap by developing an asymptotic. Optimality theory was introduced in the early 1990s as an alternative model of the organization of natural human language sound systems.
This chapter presents an overview of optimality theory ot as applied to phonology. Mccarthy university of massachusetts amherst abstract. Optimality criteria are the conditions a function must satisfy at its minimum point. Click download or read online button to optimality theory and minimalism book pdf for free now. An overview find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Linguistic and cognitive explanation in optimality theory. Last week we talked in detail about how the theory works. Reviewed by sam hellmuth, university of york doing optimality theory is intended to equip student and more advanced practitioners with key tools and concepts needed to construct an analysis within optimality theory ot. Optimality conditions for a minimum point of the function are discussed in later sections. Recent work in theoretical syntax has revealed the strong explanatory power of the notions of economy, competition, and optimization. Abstract optimality theory was introduced in the early 1990s as an alternative model of the organization of natural human language sound systems. Optimization methods seeking solutions perhaps using numerical methods to the optimality conditions are often called optimality criteria methods. Optimality theory thisisanintroductiontooptimalitytheory,thecentralideaofwhich isthatsurfaceformsoflanguagere.
Optimality theory and the generative complexity of. This article provides an introduction to the model for the nonlinguist. Some modifications and new results on the optimality conditions and development of algorithms are also presented. The book leads the reader to an understanding of optimality theory via the exploration and resolution of specific problems in phonology, morphology, and syntax, but presumes virtually no background knowledge in linguistics. Optimality theory and minimalism download optimality theory and minimalism ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. The design optimization problem is always converted to minimization of a cost function. Kager 1999 gives an entrylevel introduction to ot, mccarthy 2001 surveys. It also addresses some frequently asked questions about this theory and offers suggestions.
Constraint interaction in generative grammar, 19932004. An introduction to linguistics in the 1990s 1 diana archangeli 2 optimality theory. Prince and smolensky 1993 introduced optimality theory ot as a framework for linguistic analysis. Section 1 presents and illustrates the central principles of optimality theory. Variants of optimality theory with connectionistlike weighted constraints continue to be pursued in more recent work pater. This video is going to tell you about the concept of pareto optimality. Sequential multiple testing 3 of hypotheses to be sacri. Pdf on jan 1, 1997, diana archangeli and others published optimality theory. Rene kagers textbook is one of the first to cover optimality theory ot, a declarative grammar framework that swiftly took over phonology after it. Weve been thinking about what, what is the right thing to do in a game. Section 2 gives an example of syntax within the theory.
Optimality theory also has roots in neural network research. In tesar and smolenskys groundbreaking work, grammar learning is tied intimately and inextricably to the core principles of the underlying linguistic. Roa, which was created by alan prince in 1993, is an electronic depository of work in, on, or about ot. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Spoken in the northern omo region, in and around malokoza, northeast of the basketto. It allows for the calculation and visualization of the costs and benefits that influence the outcome of a decision, and contributes to an understanding of adaptations. Clinical application of optimality theory 243 optimality theory is different from the majority of linguistic frameworks in that it does not appeal to rules or processes to explain such patterns in grammar. Optimality theory ot is a theory of constraint interaction. Building grammars entirely upon these elements, optimality theory syntax provides a theory of universal grammar with a formally precise and strongly restricted theory of universal typology. The purpose of this overview is to discuss main theoretical results, some applications, and solution methods for this interesting and important class of programming problems. This essay presents an overview of selected work making use of optimality theory, with the goal of illuminating these general ideas. Jan 01, 2004 optimality theory has transformed the field of linguistics more than almost any other development of the past halfcentury, and prince and smolensky started it all.
Mccarthy points out that some of the most significant work on ot is available for free on the rutgers optimality archive. So far, weve thought about some canonical games from game theory and weve thought about how to play them, but weve really been taking the players perspective. Sequential multiple testing with generalized error control. Case, agreement, object shift, and economy of structure and movement. This volume provides the first survey of optimality theory arguably the linguistic theory of the 1990s. Three important constraint families are explored faithfulness, alignment, and markedness. Related to gamogofadawro, but may not be inherently intelligible. Ot is a theory of constraint interaction in grammar, which aims to solve a couple of problems that have confronted generative phonological theory since its earliest days.
This volume provides the first general introduction to optimality theory arguably the linguistic theory of the 1990s. It can be viewed as abstracting the core idea of the principle of harmony maximization and making it work formally and empirically in a purely symbolic theory of grammar. Table of contents notes on contributors vil foreword vm 1 optimality theory. The property of strict domination is a new element, one.
Pay particular attention to the critiques of optimality theory. Optimality theory, part ii to do topic proposal or bibliographic exercise due thursday overview after discussion of project. Introduction to ot syntax ellen woolford university of massachusetts amherst abstract. To conclude our overview of generalization patterns, we take on some empirical issues. Optimality theory, by contrast, seeks to strengthen the higherlevel theory of grammatical form. Optimality theory presented by ashour abdulaziz, eric dodson, jessica hanson, and teresa li overview introduction how to interpret ot historical development theory application pros and cons optimality theory central idea. This article surveys the motivations for ot, its core principles, and the basics of analysis. Arora, in introduction to optimum design second edition, 2004. Optimality theory is a general model of how grammars are structured. These notes explain the procedures and assumptions behind a valuable technique using in studying adaptation called optimality theory. Notes on optimality theory college of the holy cross.
As a general model, optimality theory has wide applications to a variety of areas in cognitive science, and especially to those related to language. The basic principles of optimality theory are introduced and explained gen, con, and eval. Mccarthy, university of massachusetts, amherst ot does not need to permanently influence linguistic theory. Optimality modeling is the modeling aspect of optimization theory. The basic principles of optimality theory are introduced and explained gen. In this section, concepts of local and global minima are defined and illustrated using the standard mathematical model for design optimization defined in chapter 2. This thoughful and novel work is strongly recommended to scholars in learnability theory, as well as to anyone with an interest in optimality theory. To introduce ot syntax to phonologists, this pape r shows how syntax benefits from the addition of optimality theory in the analysis of four kinds of complex phenomenon. In this chapter and the next one, we describe methods based on this approach. Generalizationforms in domination hierarchies iblocking and triggering. Download pdf optimality theory and minimalism free online.
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