<OT> New Posting: ROA-984

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 984-0708

Harmonic Grammar with Linear Programming: From linear systems to linguistic typology

Christopher Potts <potts at linguist.umass.edu>
Joe Pater <pater at linguist.umass.edu>
Rajesh Bhatt <bhatt at linguist.umass.edu>
Michael Becker <michael at linguist.umass.edu>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=984


Abstract:
Harmonic Grammar (HG) is a model of linguistic constraint
interaction in which well-formedness is calculated as the
sum of weighted constraint violations. We show how linear
programming algorithms can be used to determine whether
there is a weighting for a set of constraints that fits
a set of linguistic data. The associated software package
OT-Help provides a practical tool for studying large and
complex linguistic systems in the HG framework and comparing
the results with those of OT. We describe the translation
from Harmonic Grammars to systems solvable by linear programming,
and we illustrate the usefulness of OT-Help with a set of
studies of the predictions HG makes for phonological typology.

Comments: 
Keywords: Harmonic Grammar, computation, linear programming, typology
Areas: Formal Analysis,Phonology,Learnability
Type: Journal Article

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=984