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Article published In:
Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 46:1/2 (2019) ► pp.133–162

On the rapid expansion of optimality theory at the end of the twentieth century

| The University of Texas at Austin

Despite being a recent development in generative linguistics, Optimality Theory (OT, Prince & Smolensky 1993) has had a profound impact on linguistics, particularly on phonology in North America. OT posits that observed forms of language arise due to conflicting linguistic constraints. When proposed in 1993, OT saw virtually overnight success in American phonology despite not having been the first theory of grammar to focus solely on the constraint. I argue, that the reasons for which OT saw such immediate success due in large part to the efforts of Prince and Smolensky to work at getting the word out, the state of American phonology at the time which felt stagnant to some, and the coincidence of OT’s birth with the Internet Boom which Prince and Smolensky used to their advantage

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Optimality theory & its connectionist origins
  • 3.A brief history of constraints in linguistic theory
  • 4.The state of American phonology at OT’s inception
  • 5.On OT’s lesser reception in syntax
  • 6.Conclusion and OT’s future
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 September 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00041.gri
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