Variation in Optimality Theory
Arto Anttila, Department of Linguistics, Stanford University
Language is variable and changing, but not random or chaotic. The
observation that languages have grammatical structure that may surface
invariantly/categorically or variably/gradiently is not new, but it is
only recently that this point has come into focus in formal linguistics,
especially in Optimality Theory. This course lays out the central ideas
behind current optimality-theoretic work on variation and
gradience. Starting from phonology, the course explores variable and
gradient phenomena and draws out their consequences for grammatical
theory. The topics include variation in expression (phonological
variation, gradient phonotactics, variation in morpheme selection and word
order) as well as variation in interpretation (semantic ambiguity, partial
blocking). The emphasis is on the empirical evaluation of theoretical
proposals in the light of various kinds of data, including annotated
corpora, sociolinguistic and dialectological fieldwork data,
psycholinguistic experiments, and native speaker intuitions. The course
presupposes some familiarity with Optimality Theory and involves hands-on
analysis practice.
Course Areas: Language Variation, Phonetics/Phonology, Morphology/Syntax,
Semantics/Pragmatics
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