| Abstract: | Metrical theory allows for a rich (if finite) variety of ways that strings of syllables can be parsed by feet. We deploy a couple of different techniques to determine the number of parses admitted under various basic structural assumptions. In so doing, we are led to effective procedures for constructing the entire set of parses. Since a claim of optimality refers to an entire candidate set, and not just to a handful of obvious competitors, these procedures provide a starting point for establishing the truth of any such claim in the realm of foot-level prosody. |
