| Abstract: | In Optimality Theory, a set of grammatical constraints defines a space of possible languages. This space is called the factorial typology. In this paper, we note that every factorial typology defines a t-order, i.e. a set of implicational universals that hold among pairs. T-Order Generator is a Windows program that generates t-orders. The input to the program is a factorial typology; the output is a t-order visualized as a directed graph. This structure has a useful application in the study of variation: it imposes universal limits on the quantitative variation permitted by a constraint set. These limits hold under several theories of variation, including Multiple Grammars, Partially Ordered Grammars, and Stochastic Optimality Theory. |
