Hidden Generalizations is the first monograph devoted exclusively to the problem of phonological opacity. Opacity arises when the conditions for or results of an active phonological process are not evident in the speech signal. Opacity is particularly important in Optimality Theory, which lacks the standard means of analyzing opacity, rule ordering. This book is a thorough reexamination of phonological opacity. It finds insights in the extensive literature on rule interaction of the 1970's. It describes and critiques the oft-voiced opinion that there are no authentic cases of opacity. It...

Focusing on the phonologies of children with functional (non-organic) speech disorders, this volume reports the latest findings in optimality theory, phonological acquisition and disorders. The book is based on typological, cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental evidence from over 200 children. It stands out because of the unique test case that the population offers to optimality theory, particularly with respect to puzzles of opacity, lawful orders of acquisition, and language learnability. Beyond its theoretical significance, this research holds clinical relevance for the...

Modeling Ungrammaticality in Optimality Theory is a collection of papers in phonology and syntax on the topic of ineffability, or absolute ungrammaticality, and the analytical challenge which it presents for Optimality Theory. The architecture of Optimality Theory takes an input and maps it onto its optimal output. But the cases analyzed in these papers would seem to invite analyses in which an input has no output whatsoever, not even an imperfect one. The papers develop various strategies for modeling this phenomenon. A useful book for researchers exploring ineffability from any theoretical...

Modeling Ungrammaticality in Optimality Theory is a collection of papers in phonology and syntax on the topic of ineffability, or absolute ungrammaticality, and the analytical challenge which it presents for Optimality Theory. The architecture of Optimality Theory takes an input and maps it onto its optimal output. But the cases analyzed in these papers would seem to invite analyses in which an input has no output whatsoever, not even an imperfect one. The papers develop various strategies for modeling this phenomenon. A useful book for researchers exploring ineffability from any theoretical...

The Phonology of Contrast argues that contrast is one of the central organizing principles of the grammar and provides a formal theory of contrast couched in the framework of Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993/2004). The study of the role of contrast is a growing area of interest in linguistics and this monograph contributes to the debate on where contrast fits in the grammar. The key finding is that contrast exists as an independent principle in the grammar, which in the framework of Optimality Theory can be formulated as a family of rankable and violable constraints. A formal...

The metrical grid, the prosodic hierarchy, and the devices that establish directional parsing effects are closely intertwined in metrical stress theory. The metrical grid is the structure that represents stress patterns. The locations of stressed positions on the grid are constrained by the positions of categories in the prosodic hierarchy. Both the metrical grid and the prosodic hierarchy are manipulated by constraints, such as alignment constraints, that establish directional orientations within these structures. Assumptions about the representations affect the behavior of the constraints,...