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Summary: Despite being a recent development in generative linguistics, Optimality Theory (OT, Prince & Smolensky 1993) has had a profound impact on linguistics, particularly on phonology in North America. OT posits that observed forms of language arise due to conflicting linguistic constraints. When proposed in 1993, OT saw virtually overnight success in American phonology despite not having been the first theory of grammar to focus solely on the constraint. I argue, that the reasons for which OT saw such immediate success due in large part to the efforts of Prince and Smolensky to work at getting the word out, the state of American phonology at the time which felt stagnant to some, and the coincidence of OT's birth with the Internet Boom which Prince and Smolensky used to their advantage [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consonant cluster simplification in Tundra Nenets coexists with other consonantal alternations, such as fricative strengthening, lenition of stops, and a variety of NC-effects, which all apply within the same phrasal domain. These processes interact with each other, suggesting an opaque ordering within the same post-lexical domain and thus presenting a challenge not only for inherently parallel theories like classical Optimality Theory, but also for the cyclic derivational approaches such as Stratal OT. We analyze all instances of Tundra Nenets cluster simplification as coalescence and show that a variety of apparently opaque alternations accompanying cluster simplification can be seen as transparent on this account. We also argue that strengthening in consonant clusters is caused by an intermediate stage where coda obstruents lose their place and turn into a glottal stop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spanish has a restriction on palatal nasals and laterals in the coda so that they are normally realized as dental or alveolar coronals. In the onset position, the palatal point of articulation is retained, bello (be.[ʎ]o) 'beautiful-masc.', beldad (be[l].dad) 'beauty'; doña (do.[ʎ]a) 'Madam', don (do[n]) 'Mister'. Alternations such as these led phonologists to propose a rule of depalatalization that turns an underlying palatal nasal or lateral into a coronal (Contreras 1977; Harris 1983). More recently, within an optimality-theoretic framework and on the basis of loan word evidence, Lloret and Mascaró (2006) argue again in favor of an active process of depalatalization in the phonology of Modern Spanish. Taking the proposal of Lloret and Mascaró as its point of departure, this paper expands the discussion on depalatalization to consider diachronic data, the role of the underlying representation and the perception grammar, in particular regarding loanword phonology. Historical data support depalatalization as an active phenomenon in Old Spanish and Medieval Spanish; yet the morphophonological alternations cannot be considered active/productive synchronically. Unlike previous serial models of phonology, an OT framework allows for the incorporation of diachronic data into the analysis, through constraints, constraint re-ranking and Lexicon Optimization, thus explaining how the current situation came about and shedding light on apparent synchronic alternations. OT also provides a formalization of the role of the underlying representation in diachronic change and in synchronic loanword evidence, in connection with the perception grammar, thus providing support for depalatalization as an active phonotactic restriction in Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] I discuss the question whether particular phonological units are innate or acquired. [•] I show that both markedness and faithfulness constraints can be acquired. [•] I integrate generative and usage-based approaches to language. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To theoretically inclined linguists, the past half century has been a period of considerable significance: there is virtually perfect overlap with the period of the introduction (in the second half of the 1950s and 1960s) and subsequent growth and systematic development of "generative ", "Chomskian" linguistics. As is well-known, this framework is characterized by an emphasis on the discovery and formulation of universals: essentially it is the study of Universal Grammar, enhanced by the in-depth investigations of individual languages, and comparative research involving several languages. This study is closely linked to the demand that any generative theory should contribute to an explanation of the process of first language acquisition, one of whose most striking characteristics is the acquisition of a grammar based on excessively poor input. The difference is hypothesized to be bridged by an inborn language acquisition device, which itself is equated with Universal Grammar Against this background, this contribution provides a sketch of theoretical developments within the 50 year period, in the study, of generative phonology. Three well-known stages are addressed." that of the rule-based framework in the 1960s and 1970s, that of the combination of autosegmental phonology and Principles and Parameters theory in the 1980s, and finally, that of Optimality Theory in the 1990s, up until the present day. Each of these frameworks has a solidly, generative foundation, but the discussion specifically, addresses why, and how one theory, became the successor to the other, where arguments typically. revolve around issues concerning Universal Grammar and language acquisition. In order to facilitate the exposition, one constant of the discussion is the empirical material used as an illustration for each stage. This has been taken from Afrikaans, and concerns two phonological phenomena, shared with for instance Dutch, involving the feature [voice]: Final obstruent Devoicing (Auslautsverskerping) and obstruent Voice Assimilation (Stemassimilasie). These phenomena have been well-described for Afrikaans (in work by Wissing), one of the more interesting aspects of their coexistence being their interaction in words. In addition, however, theoretical developments, as they tend to do, resulted in new claims about further interacting phenomena, in this case claims about progressive devoicing, which - to different degrees and in different kinds- is also a property of the phonologies of both Dutch and Afrikaans, first discussed for the latter language in work by. Wissing and Du Plessis in the early. 1990s. Discussion of these decidedly, productive phenomena takes place against the theoretical claim that these processes must probably, be considered examples of "peripheral rules" (in the Principles and Parameters framework) or require a special treatment, possibly, an appeal to a combination of Optimality Theory and Cognitive Grammar (Van Rooy, in his 1999 dissertation) or to a special type of Optimality, constraint interaction (Zonneveld, in an extension to Afrikaans of proposals put forward previously, for Dutch). Hence, this principally, historical sketch also enables us to show that Afrikaans is a language of considerable theoretical-phonological interest, and increasingly, so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fernandez-Duque and Knight (2008, Experiment 4) described an across-task effect of endogenously generated, anticipatory control: A cue that predicted conflict in an upcoming Eriksen flanker task modulated conflict regulation in a subsequent number Stroop task. In 3 experiments, 1 of which included an exact replication condition, we failed to observe the expected across-task effect. However, a reanalysis of our data revealed a conflict adaptation effect: Number task processing on incongruent trials was influenced by random fluctuations in flanker task performance. Our findings, alongside reports of reactive across-task conflict regulation (Freitas, Bahar, Yang, & Banai, 2007), challenge Fernandez-Duque and Knight's claim that across-task effects are a distinctive feature of anticipatory cognitive control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmonic Grammar (HG) and Optimality Theory (OT) are closely related formal frameworks for the study of language. In both, the structure of a given language is determined by the relative strengths of a set of constraints. They differ in how these strengths are represented: as numerical weights (HG) or as ranks (OT). Weighted constraints have advantages for the construction of accounts of language learning and other cognitive processes, partly because they allow for the adaptation of connectionist and statistical models. HG has been little studied in generative linguistics, however, largely due to influential claims that weighted constraints make incorrect predictions about the typology of natural languages, predictions that are not shared by the more popular OT. This paper makes the case that HG is in fact a promising framework for typological research, and reviews and extends the existing arguments for weighted over ranked constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental evidence suggests that syllable-final devoicing is often ‘incomplete’: devoiced obstruents are phonetically subtly different from underlyingly voiceless ones, and speakers are sensitive to these differences. While it has been suggested in the literature that these results cause severe problems to formal theories of phonology, this article argues that we only need a three-way distinction at the end of the phonological derivation between voiced, voiceless and devoiced. It is shown how this distinction follows naturally from a Containment-based view of input–output relations within the framework of Optimality Theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article investigates the learnability filter (LF) hypothesis, according to which the set of logically possible grammars predicted by linguistic theory is reduced to a proper subset of learnable grammars by external principles of language learning. Antifaithfulness constraints (Alderete, 2001a) provide a linguistic theory that predicts the existence of circular chain shifts of two segment types, including purely phonological exchanges that are unattested cross-linguistically (Anderson and Browne, 1973). Overt data representing such systems are fed into a standard OT learning model in which learners have IO-antifaithfulness constraints at their disposal. Despite this evidence and these constraints, learners always select grammars in which segmental exchanges are restricted to morphologically defined environments, consistent with typological findings. These results are shown to have implications for the nature of constraints in Optimality Theory, the correct analysis of morpho-phonological alternations, and a host of representational assumptions in phonology and morphology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The conventional composition of the English syllable is captured in the template: C0³ V1² C04. This means that the onset accommodates a minimum of zero and a maximum of three consonants, the coda a minimum of zero and a maximum of four, whilst the nucleus takes a minimum of one and a maximum of two vowels. This article focuses on the onset constituent, and argues that the English onset branches twice instead of three times. It argues that the conventional three position onsets are derived from word initial consonant clusters, and that these onsets do not appear to hold word medially where only onsets with two positions appear to be attested. Motivating evidence is drawn from other languages, specifically Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, because it is believed that, except for the coda, the binary branching nature of syllable constituents is universally imposed in the world's languages. Also, no one language or dialect can exhaustively account for all linguistic phenomena — evidence to demonstrate an otherwise systematic behaviour of a phonological unit may have to be drawn from other languages or dialects. A brief overview of the Optimality Theory account of syllable onset is given, and areas of overlap are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines morphophonological alternations involving apicoalveolar tap-consonant clusters in Urban East Norwegian from the framework of gestural Optimality Theory. Articulatory Phonology provides an insightful explanation of patterns of vowel intrusion, coalescence, and rhotic deletion in terms of the temporal coordination of consonantal gestures, which interacts with both prosodic and morphological structure. An alignment-based account of derived-environment effects is proposed in which complete overlap in rhotic-consonant clusters is blocked within morphemes but not across morpheme or word boundaries. Alignment constraints on gestural coordination also play a role in phonologically conditioned allomorphy. The gestural analysis is contrasted with alternative Optimality-theoretic accounts. Furthermore, it is argued that models of the phonetics–phonology interface which view timing as a low-level detail of phonetic implementation incorrectly predict that input morphological structure should have no effect on gestural coordination. The patterning of rhotic-consonant clusters in Norwegian is consistent with a model that includes gestural representations and constraints directly in the phonological grammar, where underlying morphological structure is still visible. On the assumption that Universal Grammar lacks faithfulness constraints on input timing, the phonology is free to include non-contrastive phonetic detail such as intersegmental gestural coordination without the danger of overgenerating impossible contrasts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the nature of the substitutions used for the dental fricatives (/θ/ and /ð/) by Dutch learners of English as a second language. By means of an OT analysis, the underlying reasons for the difficulties encountered with these sounds are brought to light. The present data reveal that phonetics (or acoustics) rather than phonology plays a major role in the selection of the phonemes used to substitute the dental fricatives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper argues against the view of intrusive [r] as a synchronically arbitrary insertion process. Instead, it is seen as a phonologically natural process, which can be modelled within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT). Insertion of [r] in phonologically restricted environments is a consequence of a more general theory of consonant epenthesis outlined here. This theory ties epenthesis in with the notion of prominence and strives to formalize a general theory of epenthesis which explains why glottal stops and glides are crosslinguistically frequently found epenthetic consonants, although in different prosodic contexts. I argue that glottal stops are optimal margin consonants and thus inserted in margin positions (e.g. word-initially) while glides are optimal peak consonants, inserted in peak positions (e.g. as hiatus breakers). This hypothesis is derived from sonority-based prominence scales [Prince, A., Smolensky, P., 1993. Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Ms. Rutgers University and the University of Colorado at Boulder]. Intrusive [r] can then be understood as the optimal consonant in a peak position when glide formation is blocked, because [r] is the most sonorous possible element in this position. Spreading-based or perceptually grounded accounts of intrusive [r] are consequently rejected under this approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: One of the most important insights of Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993) is that phonological processes can be reduced to the interaction between faithfulness and universal markedness principles. In the most constrained version of the theory, all phonological processes should be thus reducible. This hypothesis is tested by alternations that appear to be phonological but in which universal markedness principles appear to play no role. If we are to pursue the claim that all phonological processes depend on the interaction of faithfulness and markedness, then processes that are not dependent on markedness must lie outside phonology. In this paper I will examine a group of such processes, the initial consonant mutations of the Celtic languages, and argue that they belong entirely to the morphology of the languages, not the phonology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Why is it preferable to say "salt and pepper" over "pepper and salt?" Based on an analysis of 692 binomial tokens from online corpora, we show that a number of semantic, metrical, and frequency constraints contribute significantly to ordering preferences, overshadowing the phonological factors that have traditionally been considered important. The ordering of binomials exhibits a considerable amount of variation. For example, although "principal and interest" is the more frequent order, "interest and principal" also occurs. We consider three frameworks for analysis of this variation: traditional optimality theory, stochastic optimality theory, and logistic regression. Our best models—using logistic regression—predict 79.2% of the binomial tokens and 76.7% of types, and the remainder are predicted as less frequent—but not ungrammatical—variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article adopts the perspective of Optimality Theory (OT) to address the question whether phonology and syntax are equally autonomous. We show that OT enjoys the same advantages and encounters the same problems in syntax as in phonology; this suggests that markedness plays an equally important rôle in both components of language. Most markedness constraints, however, are clearly grounded: although they refer to specifically linguistic categories (self-containment), they typically display some degree of functional adaptation to the demands of performance (nonarbitrariness). In consequence, phonology and syntax should be expected to be grounded to a similar degree. Pace, however, the postulation of grounded markedness constraints in the theory of grammar does not violate Ockham''s Razor. In particular, we show that markedness cannot be equated with performance difficulty, and we demonstrate that infants require knowledge of markedness during language acquisition in order to transcend the limitations of inductive generalization. However, this does not necessarily imply that knowledge of markedness is innate; we argue, rather, that most markedness constraints may in fact emerge in the course of linguistic development through the child''s monitoring of her own performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present study offers an Optimality-Theoretic analysis of the syllabification of intervocalic consonants and glides in Modern English. It will be argued that the proposed syllabifications fall out from universal markedness constraints – all of which derive motivation from other languages – and a language-specific ranking. The analysis offered below is therefore an alternative to the traditional rule-based analyses of English syllabification, e.g. Kahn (1976), Borowsky (1986), Giegerich (1992, 1999) and to the Optimality-Theoretic treatment proposed by Hammond (1999), whose analysis requires several language-specific constraints which apparently have no cross-linguistic motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of secondary stress in Brazilian and European Portuguese (BP and EP) based on Optimality Theory (OT). We argue that a representational analysis has the following advantages: (i) generating all the facts of Brazilian and European Portuguese without postulating any cases of absolute neutralization; (ii) not forcing the usage of the notion of directionality, thus implying a simplification of the phonological theory; and (iii) being able to generate variant forms in parallel. We have developed a computer program, sotaq, that tests proposed stress systems (formulated in terms of constraint hierarchies) for both varieties of Portuguese against observed actual stresses and in large corpora, thus allowing for automatic testing of Optimality Theory predictions for secondary stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

0It is one of the most basic generalizations in phonology that only certain sets of sounds pattern together in phonological processes. These sets are referred to as natural classes. This paper develops a new analysis of the natural class generalization, formulated in terms of Optimality Theory. It is shown that natural classes derive from the nature of the set of markedness constraints. For example, sounds can pattern together as a natural class if they violate markedness constraints in the same environment, so given constraints *XA and *XB A and B can form a natural class. As a result the range of possible natural classes depends on the inventory of constraints, not on the feature set. This analysis is shown to have empirical advantages over the standard account according to which natural classes are characterized purely in terms of features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses multi level Optimality Theory (OT) and the ways of dealing with stages in phonological processing. OT should aim at ways to incorporate multiple levels of phonological processing, rather than focus on retaining the single evaluation hypothesis. In an OT approach, the constraints responsible for preferred syllable content are active only at pre-phonetic levels of evaluation, whereas a constraint on segmental markedness, saying that consonants should be as consonantal as possible and therefore nonsonorant is active at the pre-phonetic, as well as at the phonetic level. The tools of OT seem particularly suited to give a representation of the conflict between markedness constraints with opposing output goals Aphasia, in this approach, comprises the lowering of faithfulness constraints at the affected level of processing. Language breakdown provides a window on the workings of the language system and linguistic theories should be able to deal with the view thus offered.

This paper uses the formalism of Optimality Theory (OT) to retrace the evolution of the phonological fragment responsible for the structure of rimes, as Gallo-Romance evolved into Middle French. It is shown that the well-formed-ness of rimes responded to constant pressure to obey emergent markedness criteria and evolved through repeated violations of faithfulness. Two specific issues are closely scrutinized: (1) the interaction that took place, in 4th-c. Gallo-Romance, between various types of yod and two general processes of the phonology of the time: diphthongization and voicing, and (2) the left to right alignment shift within Old French diphthongs and triphthongs which gave to the reflex of former velar consonants full vocalic value and the structural properties of a nucleus head. Reranking of universal constraints, as it reflects perceptual enhancements, provides, together with appropriate stages of relexification, the main tool for an analysis of sound change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]