Optimality Theory

Rene Kager

ISBN 10: 0521580196 / ISBN 13: 9780521580199

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1999

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - This is an introduction to Optimality Theory, whose central idea is that surface forms of language reflect resolutions of conflicts between competing constraints. A surface form is 'optimal' if it incurs the least serious violations of a set of constraints, taking into account their hierarchical ranking. Languages differ in the ranking of constraints; and any violations must be minimal. The book does not limit its empirical scope to phonological phenomena, but also contains chapters on the learnability of OT grammars; OT's implications for syntax; and other issues such as opacity. It also reviews in detail a selection of the considerable research output which OT has already produced. Exercises accompany chapters 1-7, and there are sections on further reading. Optimality Theory will be welcomed by any linguist with a basic knowledge of derivational Generative Phonology.

Seller Inventory # 9780521580199

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Optimality Theory
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521580196
• ISBN 13: 9780521580199
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 157H x 30D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 157 millimeters height by 30 millimeters depth
• Weight: 823 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This is an introduction to Optimality Theory, whose central idea is that surface forms of language reflect resolutions of conflicts between competing constraints. The book does not limit its empirical scope to phonological phenomena, but also contains chapters on the learnability of OT grammars; OT's implications for syntax; and other issues such as opacity. Exercises accompany chapters 1-7, and there are sections on further reading. Optimality Theory will be welcomed by any linguist with a basic knowledge of derivational Generative Phonology.

About the Author

Rene Kager is Associate Professor of Language Development at Utrecht University. His books include A Metrical Theory of Stress and Destressing in Dutch (1989), The Prosody-Morphology Interface (with H. van der Hulst and W. Zonneveld, Cambridge 1999) and Optimality Theory (Cambridge, 1999).