<OT> New Posting: ROA-937

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 937-1107

The roles of Gen and Con in modeling ternary rhythm

Curt Rice <curt.rice at hum.uit.no>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=937


Abstract:
Structures absent from the set of well-formed representations
in natural language can be avoided by restricting the alphabet
or the operations which are inherently available in Universal Grammar. Alternatively, they can be suppressed by restrictions articulated in every individual grammar. In Optimality Theory, the first of these strategies would be modeled through restrictions on GEN, and the second via the interaction of constraints in CON (Prince and Smolensky 1993). The present article aims to elucidate these options by considering competing strategies for approaching metrical analyses of ternary rhythm in OT.

I begin by setting the theoretical stage for further exploration
of a division of labor between GEN and CON, including a
selective review of the guidance offered in the literature
on this matter. This is followed by a reminder of the analytical
challenges which ternary rhythm presents as we review the
two dominant strategies found in metrical theory for modeling
such patterns. The remainder of the paper is devoted to schematic discussion of OT strategies and their implications for GEN and CON
as potential subdivisions in which restrictions on structure
might reside.

Comments: In: Freedom of Analysis, eds. Sylvia Blaho, Patrik Bye & Martin Krämer. Mouton. 2007.
Keywords: Phonology, metrical theory, ternary rhythm, stress, OT architecture, freedom of analysis
Areas: Phonology
Type: Book Chapter

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=937