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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter Mouton February 21, 2008

Comparative markedness

  • John J McCarthy
From the journal Theoretical Linguistics

Abstract

The markedness constraints of classic Optimality Theory assign violation-marks to output candidates without reference to the input or to other candidates. This article explores an alternative conception of markedness: markedness constraints compare the candidate under evaluation with another candidate, the most faithful one. Comparative constraints distinguish two situations: the candidate under evaluation contains an instance of a marked structure that is also present in the fully faithful candidate; or it contains an instance of a marked structure that is not present in the fully faithful candidate. Empirical consequences of comparative markedness are explored, including grandfather effects, derived environment effects, non-iterating processes, and counter-feeding opacity. Comparative markedness is found to have some advantages and some disadvantages in comparison with classic OT and alternatives like local conjunction, stratal OT, sympathy, and targeted constraints.

Published Online: 2008-02-21
Published in Print: 2003-11-24

© Walter de Gruyter

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