Investigations in Optimality Theory: Typology, Learning, and Modeling

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Conflicting principles are at work in language. For example, talking faster requires less precise articulation, but being clear requires more precise articulation. How are these conflicts resolved? This project studies two competing hypotheses: absolute priority versus compromise. How do humans make these decisions? Again, this project studies two competing hypotheses: all at once or one at a time. Different fields that study language -- linguistics, computer science, and psychology -- take different views of these hypotheses. The methods used in this project are drawn from all three of these disciplines. The method of typology comes from linguistics: How do different languages resolve conflicts among the same principles? The method of computer modeling comes from computer science: Develop programs that resolve conflicts or learn how conflicts are resolved in some language. The method of naturalistic data analysis comes from developmental psychology: Use data from young children learning English to test and refine the learning model. Two further features of the project are the creation of publicly available computational tools for doing this work, and the recruitment of future linguists by hiring undergraduate research assistants from the economically and ethnically diverse population of students at a large public university.