Phonological Argumentation: Essays on Evidence and Motivation (Advances in Optimality Theory) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184553221X ISBN 13: 9781845532215

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2010

Synopsis

This volume presents a series of original papers focusing on the theme of phonological argumentation, set within the framework of Optimality Theory. It contains two major sections: (1) chapters about the evidence for and methodology used in discovering the bases of phonological theory, i.e., how constraints are formed and what sort of evidence is relevant in positing them; and (2) case studies that focus on particular theoretical issues within OT, usually through selected phenomena in one or more languages, arguing in favor of or against specific formal analyses. A noteworthy detail of this book is that all of the contributors are connected with the program in phonology and phonetics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, either as current professors or former graduate students. Consequently, all of them have been directly influenced by John McCarthy, himself one of the major proponents of OT. This collection will therefore be of interest to anyone who seriously follows the field of OT. The intended readership is primarily graduate students and those already holding an advanced degree in linguistics, i.e., persons conversant with and capable of interacting with the OT literature.

About this title

About the Author

Steve Parker graduated from the linguistics department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2002. He has served as a teacher and consultant with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL International) for twenty-five years. In that capacity he has carried out direct fieldwork and research on a number of indigenous languages of South America and Papua New Guinea, two of which are now extinct.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 184553221X
• ISBN 13: 9781845532215
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 388
• Editor: Parker Steve