LSA.113 Introduction
to Optimality Theory
John J. McCarthy
jmccarthy (at-sign) linguist.umass.edu
For information about the course, see the Institute website: http://web.mit.edu/lsa2005/courses/schedules.html.
Warning: Some of this material will change before it’s actually used in class. Compare the revision numbers (at the bottom of the page) to determine whether you’ve got an out-of-date version of the handout.
The textbook is: McCarthy, John J. (2002) A Thematic
Guide to Optimality Theory (ATGtOT).
Linked files is are in Adobe Acrobat format. In the unlikely event that you don’t have it yet, the free Adobe reader can be installed from here.
Handouts
Handout #0: Course syllabus (2pp.)
Handout #1: Background, origins, and overview of OT (13pp.)
Reading assignments:
ATGtOT pp. 1-65.
Prince, Alan and Smolensky, Paul (2003) Optimality Theory in phonology.
In Oxford Encyclopedia of Linguistics, ed. William Frawley, pp. xxx-xxx.
Handout #2: Inventories and distribution in OT (7pp.)
Handout #2 supplement (2pp.)
Recently asked questions #1 (3pp.)
Chapter 9 of Prince, Alan and Smolensky, Paul (2004) Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Malden, Mass., and Oxford, UK: Blackwell. http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/537-0802/537-0802-PRINCE-3-0.PDF.
Handout #3: Modes of constraint interaction (blocking, triggering, conspiracies) (15pp.)
Recently asked questions #2 (2pp.)
Chapters 3 and 4 of Prince and Smolensky (2004), http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/537-0802/537-0802-PRINCE-1-0.PDF.
Handout #4: Typology and universals (36pp.)
Chapter 6 of Prince and Smolensky (2004), http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/537-0802/537-0802-PRINCE-2-0.PDF.
Handout #5: Learning (12pp.)
Sections 1-3 of Tesar, Bruce and Smolensky, Paul (1998) Learnability in Optimality Theory. Linguistic Inquiry 29, 229-68. http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/155-1196/roa-155-tesar-2.pdf
Sections 1-4 of Prince, Alan and Tesar, Bruce (2004) Learning phonotactic distributions. In Constraints in Phonological Acquisition, ed. René Kager, Joe Pater, and Wim Zonneveld, pp. 245-91. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/353-1099/353-1099-PRINCE-0-0.PDF
And if you’re really ambitious: Tesar, Bruce and Prince, Alan (2004) Using phonotactics to learn phonological alternations. In CLS 39, Part II: The Panels. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/620-1003/620-TESAR-0-0.PDF