| ROA: | 229 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Boolean Operations and Constraint Interaction in Optimality Theory |
| Authors: | Megan Crowhurst, Mark Hewitt |
| Comment: | |
| Length: | 70 |
| Abstract: | Boolean Operations and Constraint Interactions in Optimality Theory Megan Crowhurst The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Mark Hewitt Brandeis University This paper develops a theory of constraint interactions in which the requirements of two or more individual constraints are co-ordinated as a unit, or macro-constraint. Macro-constraints are required to account for certain types of phonological dependency; specifically, cases in which a complex linguistic pattern is co-conditioned by multiple factors. We examine examples of such patterns in Diyari, Zezuru Shona, Dongolese Nubian, and Bolivian Guarani and show that an analysis which appeals to macro-constraints predicts attested outputs under otherwise standard assumptions concerning the evaluation of interacting constraints in OT. The behaviour of macro-constraints in restricting phonological behaviour reveals intriguing parallels with operations of conjunction, disjunction, and implication familiar from classical (or Boolean) logic. The analogy with logic is developed extensively, focussing on the operation of conjunction, and on differences between conjunction and implication. Finally, we show that the behaviours of constraints interacting under co-ordination bring into sharper focus subtle EVAL effects which do not emerge when constraints are not co-ordinated, with implications for the treatment of candidates and our understanding of constraint evaluation more generally. (In review, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory.) |
| Type: | Paper/tech report |
| Area/Keywords: | |
| Article: | Version 1 |