<OT> New Posting: ROA-756

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 756-0705

Putting 'commas' at the right place: A note on crucial non-ranking in OT

Nina Topintzi <i.topintzi at ucl.ac.uk>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=756


Abstract:
Two conceptions of crucial non-ranking have been proposed
in the literature: i) one that produces variation (Anttila
1997) and ii) that of equal ranking (Crowhurst 2001, Crowhurst
and Michael 2005, Topintzi 2005, Rice in press). I show
that the former is erroneous in that it predicts unattested
variation or fails to account for certain cases altogether.
It is also unnecessary since it can be subsumed by the Gradual
Learning Algorithm (Boersma and Hayes 2001). I thus conclude
that a single notion of crucial non-ranking exists, that
of equal ranking. Since alternatives such as constraint
conjunction cannot replace equal ranking, I argue that it
must be recognised as a genuinely distinct ranking relationship.

Comments: To appear in the UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 17 (2005), Ad Neeleman and Mary Pearce (eds.)
Keywords: crucial non-ranking, equal ranking, variation, gradual learning algorithm, local conjunction
Areas: Phonology
Type: Manuscript

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=756