Doing Optimality Theory: Applying Theory to Data - Softcover

McCarthy, John J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1405151366 ISBN 13: 9781405151368

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008

Synopsis

Doing Optimality Theory brings together examples and practical, detailed advice for undergraduates and graduate students working in linguistics. Given that the basic premises of Optimality Theory are markedly different from other linguistic theories, this book presents the analytic techniques and new ways of thinking and theorizing that are required.

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• Explains how to do analysis and research using Optimality Theory (OT) - a branch of phonology that has revolutionized the field since its conception in 1993
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• Offers practical, in-depth advice for students and researchers in the field, presented in an engaging way
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• Features numerous examples, questions, and exercises throughout, all helping to illustrate the theory and summarize the core concepts of OT
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• Written by John J. McCarthy, one of the theory’s leading proponents and an instrumental figure in the dissemination and use of OT today
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• An ideal guide through the intricacies of linguistic analysis and research for beginning researchers, and, by example, one which will lead the way to future developments in the field.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Doing Optimality Theory
Applying Theory to Data
John J. McCarthy

"Built on deep experience in research and teaching, and drawing expertly on recent advances in handling the theory, McCarthy's volume conducts the reader closer than any previous text to the heart of the Optimality Theoretic enterprise. Lucidly grounded in the nuts-and-bolts of analytic technique, the book includes numerous exercises and questions that will stimulate, inspire, and provoke. Along the way the reader will encounter many sharp observations about matters ranging from theory-construction to writing up research results; these alone are worth the price of entry."
Alan Prince, Rutgers University

"This book not only fills a major gap in the books on OT for beginners, but also offers wise advice for more experienced researchers."
Moira Yip, University College London

"There are many introductions to OT as a theory, but none with hands-on training on the nitty-gritty details of how to actually do OT research. McCarthy's book, brimming with thought-provoking questions and problem sets, provides the guidance needed."
Junko Ito, University of California, Santa Cruz

Optimality Theory revolutionized the field of phonology and had a huge impact on linguistics in general when it was first proposed in 1993. In Doing Optimality Theory, one of the key proponents of the theory explains how to do analysis and research using this model. Because the basic premises of OT are markedly different from other linguistic theories, new analytic techniques and new ways of thinking and theorizing are required.

This unique work presents practical, in-depth advice for students in the field in an engaging and accessible way. Numerous questions, specific examples, and exercises throughout are designed to give readers an in-depth understanding of the material. McCarthy summarizes the core concepts of OT to make this an ideal guide for both advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and one that will, by example, lead the way to future developments in the field.

About the Author

John J. McCarthy is Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His widely cited but unpublished manuscript "Prosodic Morphology I: Constraint Interaction and Satisfaction" (with Alan Prince, 1993) has been an important factor in the dissemination of Optimality Theory. He is also the author of Formal Problems in Semitic Phonology and Morphology (1985), A Thematic Guide to Optimality Theory (2002), and Hidden Generalizations: Phonological Opacity in Optimality Theory (2007), as well as the editor of Optimality Theory in Phonology: A Reader (Blackwell, 2004).

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1405151366
• ISBN 13: 9781405151368
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 322