Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Ot Constraints Are Categorical, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

In Optimality Theory, constraints come in two types, which are distinguished by their mode of evaluation. Categorical constraints are either satisfied or not; a categorical constraint assigns no more than one violation-mark, unless there are several violating structures in the form under evaluation. Gradient constraints evaluate extent of deviation; they can assign multiple marks even when there is just a single instance of the non-conforming structure. This article proposes a restrictive definition of what an OT constraint is, from which it follows that all constraints must be categorical. The various gradient constraints that have been proposed are examined, and it …

Comparative Markedness (Long Version), John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

The markedness constraints of classic Optimality Theory assign violation-marks to output candidates without reference to the input or to other candidates. This paper explores an alternative conception of markedness that is comparative: markedness constraints compare the candidate under evaluation with another candidate, the most faithful one. Comparative constraints distinguish two situations: the candidate under evaluation contains an instance of a marked structure that is also present in the fully-faithful candidate; or the candidate under evaluation contains an instance of a marked structure that is not present in the fully faithful candidate. The empirical consequences of comparative markedness are explored, including …

On Targeted Constraints And Cluster Simplification, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

In his article 'Consonant cluster neutralisation and targeted constraints', Wilson (2001) proposes a far-reaching revision of Optimality Theory to accommodate targeted constraints, which compare candidates differing only in certain specific ways. Targeted constraints, it is argued, can explain why cluster-simplification processes affect the first member of a cluster but never the more marked member of a cluster. In this remark, I show that this argument encounters difficulties once it has been embedded in a fuller picture of constraint interaction. Some general properties of the targeted-constraints model are also discussed.

Review Of Bruce Tesar And Paul Smolensky (2000) Learnability In Optimality Theory, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Nonlinear Phonology, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Harmonic Serialism And Parallelism, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

The most familiar architecture for Optimality Theory is a fully parallel one, meaning that "all possible ultimate outputs are contemplated at once" (Prince and Smolensky 1993: 79). But Prince and Smolensky also briefly entertain a serial architecture for OT, called Harmonic Serialism. The idea is that Gen Eval iterates, sending the output of Eval back into Gen as a new input. This loop continues until the derivation converges (i.e., until Eval returns the same form as the input to Gen). There are clear resemblances between this approach and theories based on notions like derivational economy (e.g., Chomsky 1995). There is …

Faithfulness And Prosodic Circumscription, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

Morphological processes are often sensitive to the prosodic structure of their inputs. Phenomena like these have been analyzed under the rubric of operational Prosodic Circumscription by McCarthy & Prince 1990.

This article re-examines certain of the principal cases supporting positive prosodic circumscription, arguing that they can be better explained as effects of prosodic faithfulness within Optimality Theory using Correspondence. Two main types of circumscription-as-faithfulness are discussed: (i) Circumscriptional effects emerging from faithfulness to the edges or heads of prosodic constituents (Yidiny, Rotuman, Cupeño, Berber). (ii) Circumscriptional effects emerging from faithfulness to moras and mora-segment associations (Arabic broken plural).

Circumscription-as-faithfulness complements …

The Prosody Of Phrase In Rotuman, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

The "phase" alternation in Rotuman is remarkable (and has attracted a good deal of previous attention) for two reasons. First, the shape differences between phases are quite diverse, involving resyllabification, deletion, umlaut, and metathesis. Second, the phase alternation produces prosodic structures that are otherwise unattested in this language, replacing simple (C)V syllables with closed and diphthongal ones. In this article, I argue that Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993) helps to make sense of both these observations. I also go on to use these results to support some claims about the nature of templates and prosodic circumscription in the theory …

Review Of Iggy Roca (Ed.) (1997) Derivations And Constraints In Phonology, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Distinctive Features, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Faithfulness And Identity In Prosodic Morphology, John J. Mccarthy, Alan Prince

John J. McCarthy

This article is largely based on the more extensive study McCarthy & Prince (1995), but includes significant further analysis of the typology of reduplication-phonology interactions and new discussion of the connection between base-reduplicant identity and Generalized Template Theory (McCarthy & Prince 1994), which eliminates the template as a unitary linguistic object.

Base-reduplicant Identity is accomplished through the same formal types of constraints as input-output Faithfulness, via the theory of correspondence (McCarthy & Prince 1994, 1995), which provides a general means of regulating similarity between linguistic representations. Phenomena described as over- and under-application, where base-reduplicant identity effects come in conflict with …

Reduplication With Fixed Segmentism, John J. Mccarthy, John Alderete, Jill Beckman, Laura Benua, Amalia Gnanadesikan, Suzanne Urbanczyk

John J. McCarthy

Fixed segmentism is the phenomenon whereby a reduplicative morpheme contains segments that are invariant rather than copied. We investigate it within Optimality Theory, arguing that it falls into two distinct types, phonological and morphological. Phonological fixed segmentism is analyzed under the OT rubric of emergence of the unmarked. It therefore has significant connections to markedness theory, sharing properties with other domains where markedness is relevant and showing context-dependence. In contrast, morphological fixed segmentism is a kind of affixation, and so it resembles affixing morphology generally. The two types are contrasted, and claims about impossible patterns of fixed segmentism are developed.

Sympathy And Phonological Opacity, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

This paper explores the nature of phonological opacity (in the sense of Kiparsky 1971, 1973) within Optimality Theory. Previous attempts to address opacity in OT are discussed and a novel proposal, an inter-candidate faithfulness relation called 'sympathy', is offered. Specific applications of sympathy are presented and some general results are derived about counter-bleeding, counter-feeding, multi-process, and Duke-of-York opaque interactions.

Review Of Alan S. Kaye, Ed. (1997) Phonologies Of Asia And Africa: (Including The Caucasus), John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Morpheme Structure Constraints And Paradigm Occultation, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

The morpheme structure constraints of classic generative phonology impose language-particular restrictions on underlying representations. It has long been known that MSCís often duplicate the functions of rules or output constraints, and so Stampe, Prince & Smolensky, and others have proposed to eliminate them. In OT, the descriptive effects of MSC’s are obtained from rankings that compel neutralization of potential underlying distinctions. One input is said to occult the other when both map onto a common output.

This paper has focused on MSC’s that prevent alternations within a paradigm. Absence of alternation is an effect of high-ranking output-output faithfulness constraints which …

Prosodic Morphology, John J. Mccarthy, Alan Prince

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Alignment And Parallelism In Indonesian Phonology, John J. Mccarthy, Abigail Cohn

John J. McCarthy

In this paper, we present a complete account of word stress in Indonesian and the ways in which it interacts with affixation, limitations on root structure, PrWd juncture, syllabification, and reduplication, developing and extending the ideas and empirical material in Cohn (1989). Phenomena that had formerly been analyzed in terms of the phonology/morphology mapping, the cycle, (non-)iterative foot assignment, and morpheme-structure constraints are all subsumed under Generalized Alignment.

Parallelism leads to examination of Alignment-based alternatives to the cycle, in which the influence of morphology on prosodic structure is direct. Furthermore, several conditions are discussed where only a parallel analysis will …

Process-Specific Constraints In Optimality Theory, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

Similar phonological processes can be governed by different constraints. Davis (1995) claims that the effect of such process-specific constraints cannot be obtained in Optimality Theory (OT), exemplifying this point with material from harmony in Palestinian Arabic. On the contrary, I show that process-specific constraints are a natural and expected result of constraint ranking, the fundamental idea of OT. Furthermore, OT makes a restrictive prediction, the subset criterion, about coexistent process-specific constraints within a single grammar—a prediction supported by the Palestinian material. Davis also presents evidence that epenthetic segments have featural specifications, claiming that OT says they are featureless. This is …

Remarks On Phonological Opacity In Optimality Theory, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

In these remarks, I have examined the problem of phonological opacity for theories without serial ordering of rules, focusing on Optimality Theory. I have argued in favor of extending a correspondence-based approach to faithfulness to the statement of phonological markedness constraints. The core of the proposal is separate specification of the levels at which featural, adjacency, and linear order conditions must be met. I have compared this approach to two others, noting many similarities and a few differences: the structural approach adopted in Prince and Smolensky (1993) and most other OT work, and the Two-Level or Cognitive Phonology of Koskenniemi …

Prosodic Morphology 1986, John J. Mccarthy, Alan Prince

John J. McCarthy

This work has circulated in manuscript form since October, 1986. Its basic contents were first presented at WCCFL 3 in spring, 1986 to an audience that was not devoid of convinced believers in the C and the V. It has been cited variously as McCarthy & Prince 1986, M&P forthcoming, and even (optimistically) M&P in press.

Many of the proposals made here have been revised, generalized, or superseded in subsequent work (see the bibliography below, p. 84), including a book ms. of nearly the same title by exactly the same authors. Junko Itô and Armin Mester have suggested to us …

Short Review Of A. A. Al-Nassir (1993) Sibawayh The Phonologist: A Critical Study Of The Phonetic And Phonological Theory Of Sibawayh As Presented In His Treatise Al-Kitab, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Extensions Of Faithfulness: Rotuman Revisited, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Faithfulness And Reduplicative Identity, John J. Mccarthy, Alan Prince

John J. McCarthy

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction; 2. Correspondence Theory; 3. Correspondence Theory and Overapplication; 4. Factorial Typology; 5. Underapplication; 6. Input-Reduplicant Correspondence; 7. Conclusion; Appendix A: Constraints on Correspondent Elements; Appendix B: Inventory of Overapplying Processes

Nonconcatenative Morphology, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

The Emergence Of The Unmarked: Optimality In Prosodic Morphology, John J. Mccarthy, Alan Prince

John J. McCarthy

This paper identifies and illustrates a key consequence of Optimality Theory called 'emergence of the unmarked'. In OT, a constraint can be active even if it is crucially dominated. A low-ranking markedness constraint, then, can decide between candidates, as long as they tie on all higher-ranking constraints. The linguistic structure that is unmarked with respect to this constraint can emerge in such circumstances.

This notion is applied to a core problem in the theory of Prosodic Morphology, that of defining templates. The frequently encountered minimal-word template is shown to emerge from markedness constraints on prosodic structure.

The Phonetics And Phonology Of Semitic Pharyngeals, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

The guttural segments of the Semitic languages form a natural class.

Two Lectures On Prosodic Morphology, John J. Mccarthy, Alan Prince

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Prosodic Morphology, John J. Mccarthy, Alan Prince

John J. McCarthy

An overview of results in the theory of prosodic morphology.

A Case Of Surface Constraint Violation, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

No abstract provided.

Template Form In Prosodic Morphology, John J. Mccarthy

John J. McCarthy

A pre-OT analysis of the verbal templates in Akkadian and Arabic.