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RUcore Resource Object
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TitleAcquisition and Opacity
NameTihonova, Olga (Author), University of Tromsø,
Date Created2009
SubjectTheoretical Linguistics,
Phonology,
opacity,
acquisition,
OT-CC,
OT,
EDCD
DescriptionThis thesis focuses on the most recent OT-based theory of opacity called Optimality Theory with Candidate Chains (OT-CC, see McCarthy 2007). To date very little attention has been dedicated to the problem of acquisition of OT-CC grammars and to the treatment of spontaneous opacity effects in the light of OT-CC. In this thesis we demonstrate that OT-CC grammars can be effectively learned by the BCD algorithm (Prince & Tesar 2004). Also, on the basis of evidence from obligatorily counterbleeding processes, NDEBs and non-target-like opacity effects, we propose to make certain changes to the status of Precedence constraints with the view to increase the descriptive adequacy of OT-CC. We show that our proposed adjustments allow OT-CC to account for emergence and subsequent loss of spontaneous opacity effects, as well as for the phenomenon of U-shaped learning and cross-subject variation in early production data.
NoteM.Phil.
Genrethesis
Persistent URLhttp://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore00000002165.ETD.000064788
Languageeng
CollectionRutgers Optimality Archive
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work