A Thematic Guide to Optimality Theory

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

John J. McCarthy (Author)

9780521791946, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 December 2001

332 pages, 127 b/w illus.
23.6 x 15.8 x 2.2 cm, 0.679 kg

'Overall, McCarthy's Thematic Guide to OT is an excellent research survey that I highly recommend to schoalrs and graduate students interested in phonology and in linguistic science in general … McCarthy's Guide, thus, should be considered a remarkable attempt to offer a global perspective on Optimality Theory as a model of Universal Grammar.' Canadian Journal of Linguistics

This book describes Optimality Theory from the top down, explaining and exploring the central premises of OT and the results of their praxis. 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. To enhance the book's usefulness for researchers in allied disciplines, the topdown view of OT extends to work on first- and second-language acquisition, phonetics and functional phonology, computational linguistics, historical linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Furthermore, to situate OT for those coming from other traditions, this book also contains much discussion of OT's intellectual origins, its predecessors, and its contemporary competitors. Each chapter concludes with extensive suggestions for further reading, classified by topics, and supplemented by a massive bibliography (over 800 items). The book ends with a list of frequently asked questions about Optimality Theory, with brief answers and pointers to a fuller treatment in the text.

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.

Subject Areas: Grammar, syntax & morphology [CFK]