The Definition and Usage of Optimality Theory

The Definition and Usage of Optimality Theory In linguistics, the theory that surface forms of language reflect resolutions of conflicts between competing constraints (i.e., specific restrictions on the form[s] of a structure). Optimality Theory was introduced in the 1990s by linguists Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky (Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar, 1993/2004). Though originally developed from generative phonology, the principles of Optimality Theory have also been applied in studies of syntax, morphology, pragmatics, language change, and other areas. In Doing Optimality Theory (2008), John J. McCarthy points out that some of the most significant work on OT is available for free on the Rutgers Optimality Archive. ROA, which was created by Alan Prince in 1993, is an electronic depository of work in, on, or about OT. Its a fabulous resource for the student as well as the veteran scholar. Observations At the heart of Optimality Theory lies the idea that language, and in fact every grammar, is a system of conflicting forces. These forces are embodied by constraints, each of which makes a requirement about some aspect of grammatical output forms. Constraints are typically conflicting, in the sense that to satisfy one constraint implies the violation of another. Given the fact that no form can satisfy all constraints simultaneously, there must be some mechanism selecting forms that incur lesser constraint violations from others that incur more serious ones. This selectional mechanism involves hierarchical ranking of constraints, such that higher-ranked constraints have priority over lower-ranked ones. While constraints are universal, the rankings are not: differences in ranking are the source of cross-linguistic variation. (Renà © Kager, Optimality Theory. Cambridge University Press, 1999) Faithfulness and Markedness Constraints [Optimality Theory] holds that all languages have a set of constraints which produce the basic phonological and grammatical patterns of that particular language. In many cases, an actual utterance violates one or more of these constraints, so a sense of well-formedness applies to that utterance which violates the least number or least important constraints. Constraints can be classified in two types: faithfulness and markedness. The faithfulness principle constrains a word to match the underlying morphological form (such as plural tram -s in trams). But words like buses or dogs do not follow this constraint (the first falls foul of the constraint that prevents the pronunciation of two consecutive /s/ sounds and the second places a /z/ instead of an /s/). These two examples, though, follow markedness constraints, and in these cases the particular markedness scores higher than the faithfulness constraint, so the alternate forms are allowed. Differences between languages, then, are a ma tter of the relative importance given to particular constraints, and a description of these constitutes a description of the language. (R.L. Trask, Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts, 2nd ed., ed. by Peter Stockwell. Routledge, 2007) Constraint Interaction and the Domination Hierarchy [W]e assert that the constraints operating in a particular language are highly conflicting and make sharply contrary claims about the well-formedness of most representations. The grammar consists of the constraints together with a general means of resolving their conflicts. We argue further that this conception is an essential prerequisite for a substantive theory of UG. How does a grammar determine which analysis of a given input best satisfies a set of consistent well-formedness conditions? Optimality Theory relies on a conceptually simple but surprisingly rich notion of constraint interaction whereby the satisfaction of one constraint can be designated to take absolute priority over the satisfaction of another. The means that a grammar uses to resolve conflicts is to rank constraints in a strict domination hierarchy. Each constraint has absolute priority over all the constraints lower in the hierarchy. [O]nce the notion of constraint-precedence is brought in from the periphery and foregrounded, it reveals itself to be of remarkably wide generality, the formal engine driving many grammatical interactions. It will follow that much that has been attributed to narrowly specific constructional rules or to highly particularized conditions is actually the responsibility of very general well-formedness constraints. In addition, a diversity of effects, previously understood in terms of the triggering or blocking of rules by constraints (or merely by special conditions), will be seen to emerge from constraint interaction. (Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky, Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Blackwell, 2004) The Richness of the Base Hypothesis Optimality Theory (OT) does not allow for constraints on the inputs of phonological evaluation. Output constraints are the only mechanisms for expressing phonotactic patterns. This idea of OT is referred to as the Richness of the Base hypothesis. For instance, there is no input constraint that forbids the morpheme *bnik as a morpheme of English. The output constraints will penalize such a form, and evaluate this form in such a way that the optimal output form is not faithful to this form, but different, e.g. blik. Since forms such as bnik will never surface in English, it does not make sense to store an underlying form bnik for blik. This is the effect of lexicon optimization. Thus, the phonological output constraints of a language will be reflected by the input forms. (Geert Booij, Morpheme Structure Constraints. The Blackwell Companion to Phonology: General Issues and Subsegmental Phonology, ed. by Marc van Oostendorp, Colin J. Ewen, Elizabeth Hume, Keren Rice. Blackwell, 2011) Optimality-Theoretic Syntax [T]he emergence of OT syntax seems to fit into the general tendency in syntax to blame the ungrammaticality of a sentence on the existence of a better alternative. This view on grammaticality is also found in [Noam] Chomskys Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995), although Chomsky takes optimization to play a much more modest role than OT syntacticians do. Whereas Chomskys only criterion for evaluation is derivational cost, the inventory of violable constraints assumed in OT syntax is richer. As a result, the OT constraints interact and conflict with each other. This interaction is exploited by the assumption that constraints are ranked, and that parametrization can be reduced to differences in ranking between languages. Chomskys economic conditions, on the other hand, have no such direct parametrizing effect. In the Minimalist Program, the locus of the parametrization is the lexicon. (Introduction to Optimality Theory: Phonology, Syntax, and Acquisition, ed. by Joost Dekkers, Frank van d er Leeuw, and Jeroen van de Weijer. Oxford University Press, 2000)

Days of the Week in Italian Vocabulary

Days of the Week in Italian Vocabulary What day is the market open? And what day does the post office close early? What day of the week do you want to go to Chianti? Besides being able to tell the time, in order to figure out when to go to events and hang out with friends, you’ll need to know the days of the week in Italian. Whether you’re reviewing the vocabulary or you’re learning it for the first time, below you’ll find useful examples for everyday conversations along with cocktail party facts so you can better understand the culture. DAYS OF THE WEEK - I GIORNI DELLA SETTIMANA Monday - lunedà ¬Tuesday - martedà ¬Wednesday - mercoledà ¬Thursday - giovedà ¬Friday - venerdà ¬Saturday - sabatoSunday - domenica Notice how the first letter of the day of the week isn’t capitalized. In Italian, days of the week, months and seasons are all lowercase. Weekend - il fine settimana You can also say â€Å"il weekend.† Pronunciation Notice how there is a grave accent mark () on the vocabulary words for Monday through Friday. That accent mark lets you know where to put the stress in the word, so in this case, the stress falls on the last syllable â€Å"di.† Esempi: A: Che giorno à ¨ oggi? - What day is it today?B: Oggi à ¨ mercoledà ¬. - Today is Wednesday.Ieri era (à ¨ stato) martedà ¬. - Yesterday was Tuesday.Domani à ¨ giovedà ¬. - Tomorrow is Thursday.Il lunedà ¬ la maggior parte dei ristoranti sono chiusi. - On Mondays the majority of restaurants are closed.Il weekend il mercato à ¨ aperto. - The market is open on the weekends.Frequento le lezioni da lunedà ¬ a venerdà ¬. - I attend lessons from Monday to Friday.Parto per l’Italia sabato. - I’m leaving for Italy on Saturday.Perchà © non à ¨ ancora venerdà ¬!? - Why isn’t it Friday yet!?Sono libero venerdà ¬ sera. Ti va di andare al cinema? - I’m free Friday. Want to go to the movies?Il giorno pià ¹ bello della settimana à ¨ lunedà ¬ perchà © à ¨ l’inizio di una nuova settimana. - The greatest day of the week is Monday because it’s the start of a new week.A: Qual à ¨ il vostro giorno di riposo (di chiusura)? - When is your day o ff?B: Siamo chiusi tutte le domeniche mattina. -   Our day off is every Sunday morning. Lunedà ¬, martedà ¬, mercoledà ¬, giovedà ¬ e venerdà ¬ are INVARIABLE, so they don’t change in their plural form. Sabato e domenica, however, have a plural form when needed. (e.g.: ...i sabati; ...le domeniche.) Vado a danza tutti i lunedà ¬. - I take my dance class every Monday.La mensa rimane aperta pià ¹ a lungo le domeniche. - Dining hall stays open longer on Sundays.Ogni martedà ¬ raccolgono la carta. - Each Tuesday is paper garbage collection. Make Your Bridges for Tuesdays Thursdays When a religious festival or holiday, like Festa della Repubblica or Ognissanti, falls on a Tuesday (martedà ¬) or a Thursday (giovedà ¬), Italians oftentimes fare il ponte, which literally means to make the bridge, and figuratively means to make a four-day holiday. That means they take off the intervening Monday or Friday.

Writing a thesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Writing a thesis - Essay Example The difference comes about when some definitions refer to euthanasia as the act that allows the physician to deliberately end a terminally ill patient’s life in order to avoid unnecessary suffering and pain (NHS 2013). When the two definitions are compared, there is a small difference between them. However, whether one will call it assisted suicide or euthanasia, the end result for both of the acts is that, they both assist a terminally ill person to commit suicide and take away their lives. This paper is therefore aimed at supporting and stating the reasons why I take the position that, assisted suicide should be allowed. Many a times, we suffer from ‘diseases’ of life that we already know cannot be cured such as life at old age. Sometimes we end up being bedridden in a lot of sufferings and pain for so many years even after having been confirmed to by the doctors that we cannot recover from our illness and we wouldn’t get out of our situation unless we die. People have been involved into fatal accidents that have resulted in the victims losing certain fundamental organs of their body, hence remaining into conditions of surviving through assisted life care. Such assistance normally do not last for long, and the doctors normally already have the information about the situation and already know that the victims will die sooner or later, but after a lot of sufferings and pain. Some patients, normally after knowing their health conditions are those that would not bring them back to life, but only full of sufferings in the hospitals or at home, go ahead to sign a life ending note that states to the doctor in-charge of their health condition to assist them terminate their lives and avoid suffering and pain if the reality of the situation is that they wouldn’t get well again. This is normally an act that is done to them after they have given up in life, and

Japan Airlines Flight 123 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Japan Airlines Flight 123 - Essay Example This report stresses that the investigations into the accident by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission pointed out to the fact that the accident was largely as a result of structural and mechanical factors. As has been mentioned, Japan Airlines Flight 123 had been involved in a tailstrike incident in 1978 at Osaka International Airport, and the accident damaged its rear pressure bulkhead. Several recommendations were made after the conclusion of the investigation of Japan Airlines Flight 123 accident. Airport, and as a result, it damaged its rear pressure bulkhead. This paper makes a conclusion that which is the worst single-aircraft accident ever. The Commission made a number of findings. The first one is the fact that the aircraft that was involved in this accident had been involved in an airstrike incident on 2 June 1978 at Osaka International Airport, and as a result, it damaged its rear pressure bulkhead. Secondly, it found that the subsequent bulkhead’s repair was not done in accordance to approved repair methods that have been recommended by Boeing. The recommendations of the investigation board were followed. This is demonstrated highly by in-service maintenance programs designed properly in Japan and across the world. In addition, reduced number of accidents from similar cause as of Japan Airlines Flight is a testimony that the recommendations were followed

Split at the Root by Adrienne Rich Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Split at the Root by Adrienne Rich - Essay Example The author also traces a large amount of influence on her identity stemming from the shadows of her father. These influences not only affected her social persona but also her literary persona as well. Rich claims that her mother was gentile in comparison to her father and that she has her â€Å"Jewishness from him and not from my gentile mother†. The author sees the influence of her father as pervasive and even overwhelming at times in terms of his influence on her identity. Given the backdrop of the Second World War and the years leading up to it, the author is seen beginning to reflect on life as a growing adult. Her father can be seen as a person caught in limbo. On the one hand he is Jewish but he rejects his Jewish roots in order to claim greater breathing space in life. The author claims that her father does not complain of any anti Semitic attitudes diverted towards him. Moreover he rejects institutionalized religion and this can be seen when he asks Rich to read from T homas Paine’s The Age of Reason after she comes back from church. He explains that this would provide her with â€Å"a balanced view of these things, a choice†. ... â€Å"†pushy† Jews of New York, the â€Å"loud, hysterical† refugees from Eastern Europe, the â€Å"overdressed† Jews of the urban South† all contributed to the author’s image of distancing herself from a Jewish identity. Her visit to the immigrant old woman proves that the author just wanted to keep her distance from being Jewish. When asked by the old woman if the author was Jewish, the author immediately replied in negative and this reaction can be seen as more or less of an impulse than a calculated move. The influence of Rich’s father can be seen as acting prominently in this event. His disassociation from his Jewish identity can be seen as an overwhelming influence on the author’s life and identity. However the influence of the author’s mother can be seen as very prominent too. The author’s mother can be seen as exerting Christian values and identity onto the author. For example when the author is filling out h er forms for admission to college her mother stresses that she should list her Christian sect rather than answering as none to the question of religion. Furthermore the author relates that her mother used to take her to church which can also be seen as a method to indoctrinate Christian values in children. In her later life, the author visits a synagogue for the first time in Baltimore which signifies that her Jewish identity had been severed at the expense of her Christian identity. Moreover the author was influenced by her mother to display a very â€Å"gentile† social behavior. Rich was told to dress as simply as possible and to be as well spoken as possible by her mother to display the â€Å"good breeding† instilled in her. She also relates that there was much talk of â€Å"ancestry† and â€Å"background† in the â€Å"southern talk of the family†

A Look at Gender Difference in Social Interaction

A Look at Gender Difference in Social Interaction Ethnography: A Look at Gender Difference in Social Interaction An ethnographic approach was chosen for this study because it has the potential to provide a descriptive, interpretive, evaluative and authentic vision of society (Hammersley Atkinson, 1995). The observation was done by myself. I went to the Marketplace Mall in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on March 4th. I stayed from one o’clock to three o’clock in the afternoon. I sat on a bench close to the food court, and observed people who were age 18 and up. I observed the ways in which males and females were different when it came to social interaction. Literature Review The article â€Å"Gender and relationships: Influences on agentic and communal behaviors† talked about agency and communion. According to the article, agency is the striving for mastery or power, and communion is the striving for intimacy and connectedness (Suh, 2004). According to measures of masculine and feminine sex roles, men make decisions easily, don’t give up easily, and are competitive, outspoken, and outgoing. Females like kids, and are warm, emotional, considerate, tactful, gentle, and helpful. Gender differences appear primarily in group or social contexts. Stereotypic beliefs are that women are communal and men are agentic (Suh, 2004). Women do domestic work more than men, have fewer hours in paid employment, and are said to have occupations of lower status. Men are more agentic with male friends, than women are with female friends. Women are more communal with female friends, than men are with male friends (Suh, 2004). This relates to my observation in the way my hypothesis was formed. I used stereotypes, and labels that men and women already have, as a knowledge base for what I might observe. The article, â€Å"Putting Gender into Context: An Interactive Model of Gender-Related Behavior,† stated that the enactment of gender takes place within social interaction (Deaux, 1987). This enactment takes place due to self-verification and self-presentation. They are naturally interwoven together. Because people monitor behavior internally and externally, they are concerned with self-presentation and self-verification simultaneously (Deaux, 1987). When I was doing my observation, I did notice people monitoring their behavior, or their child’s behavior. I focused more on who each person was interacting with, instead of how they were interacting. In Deborah Tannen’s article, â€Å"You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation,† she made a good point about the history of women and talking. In history, women were punished for talking too much. In Colonial America, they were held underwater, or even gagged. Women were believed to talk too much; however, studies find that men talk more in meetings, groups, and classrooms (Tannen, 1991). Men feel good with public speaking, while women feel good with speaking in private. Women’s language of conversation is a way to establish connections, negotiating, and maintain relationships. Men talk as a means to preserve independence, negotiate and maintain status. â€Å"Home is where there is the silent man and talkative woman† (Tannen, 1991). That’s the distinction between public and private speaking. My observation contradicted this article. More women were interacting and communicating than men. However, I was interested in the historica l aspect of the stereotypes we have today, and this gave a little hint as to what kinds of things happened to women, who spoke out of turn back in the colonial time period. An interesting topic that arose from my observation was the use of mobile phones. In â€Å"Community and social interaction in the wireless city: Wi-Fi use in public and semi-public spaces,† Hampton talked about how a few studies have addressed how wireless internet use in public spaces influences social life. Recent years have seen growth in availability of wireless internet access in public places (Hampton, 2008). Mobile phones make community instantly accessible, and social ties are reachable anywhere at any time. Hampton made the point that mobile phones create a private sphere of interaction in public spaces. When people engage with mobile phones, they create a private cocoon that reduces the likelihood of public encounters (Hampton, 2008). To get a picture of what this means, while I was observing, a middle aged male was sitting at a table alone, but he was talking on his phone to someone. One could tell he was absorbed in the conversation because he did not take notice of any one that walked by him, and he stayed sitting there for about 45 minutes after I had sat down and started my observation. Hypothesis The hypothesis I formed before the observation at the mall was, â€Å"Middle aged females will be more social with the same gender, than older or young females. Young males will be more social with the opposite gender, than middle aged or older males.† I created this hypothesis on the basis of past experiences when shopping with my mother, and my friends. There always seemed to be more females of middle age than any other age group. At the mall, there would always seem to be many more young males than any age group. I also used basic stereotypes that everyone hears growing up. Such stereotypes include, â€Å"women are supposed to be submissive and do as they are told,† and, â€Å"men are always in charge.† I do not personally believe in these; however, I did use them as a basis for my hypothesis. Methodology Over spring break I went home to Davie County, North Carolina. It is a rural town with a small shopping mall. Not many people actually go to the mall, because Walmart is just down the street. I chose to go to the Market Place Mall, instead of Walmart, and sit at the food court. I got there at one in the afternoon, on Tuesday, March 4th. Not a lot of people were there. I sat down on a bench beside the food court, and I took notes on my phone, so I would not draw attention to myself. I figured I would have attention if I had a notebook in front of me. I watched everyone that walked by me, because no one was sitting in the food court. When the people would walk by, I would record their age range, gender, and whether they were alone or with someone, and what gender those someone’s were. I would also record if they were interacting together. I stayed for two hours just sitting there on the bench, collecting data. When I finished at the shopping mall, I went home and wrote down ever ything I had on my notes in my phone. Then i drew up a spreadsheet in excel, and put in all of the information I collected. It helped me organize, and get precise calculations. Field Notes Summary In total, I observed 152 people over the two hour time period. There were 50 males and 102 females. 68 were middle aged adults. Out if the 68, 24 were men. 15 of the men were alone, 4 were with the same gender and 5 were with females. Also, out of the 68 middle aged adults, 44 were women. 13 of them were alone, 26 were with the same gender, and 5 were with males. Out of the 152 people I observed, 40 were older adults. 14 were men. 9 of them were alone, 2 were with the same gender, and 3 were with females. 26 out of the 40 were women. 16 of the older women were alone, 6 were with the same gender, and 4 were with males. Out of the 152 people, 42 were young adults. 13 were men. 5 of them were alone, 3 were with the same gender, and 5 were with females. There were 29 young women. 7 of them were alone, 16 were with the same gender, and 6 were with males. I also observed two teenagers there. They were the only teenagers I noticed being there. A little less than half of the people I observed were alone. To be exact, 65, out of the 152 people, were alone. Phone use was not a wide spread action I saw people doing, if they were alone. I only saw 8, out of the 65 people, on their phones. When it comes to social interaction, over half of the people observed were partaking in some sort of communication with each other. 87, out of the 152 people, were interacting. I saw 50 females talking with each other, and I saw 9 males talking with each other. There were 28 people partaking in interaction with the opposite gender. That includes two sets, of a male and female, holding hands. Conclusion on Hypothesis Restating my hypothesis, middle aged females will be more social with the same gender than older females, and young males will be social with the opposite gender than middle aged or older males. My hypothesis was completely right. The first part of my hypothesis was that middle aged females were more social with the same gender then older females were. The data I collected about the 152 people I observed showed that 59% of middle aged females were social with the same gender, while only 23% of older females were social with the same gender. The second part of my hypothesis was that young males were more social with the opposite gender than any other age group of males. The data I collected for the 152 people I observed showed that 38% of young males were social with the opposite gender, while only 20% of middle aged males were social with the opposite gender, and 21% of older males were social with the opposite gender. What I found most interesting was the difference between men and women’s social interaction, in general. Judith Hall published an observational study on nonverbal gender differences and discussed the cultural reasons as to those differences. In her study, she noted women as smiling and laughing more, as well as having a better understanding of others’ nonverbal cues. She believed that women were encouraged to be more emotionally expressive in their language, thus better developed in nonverbal communication. Men, on the other hand, were taught to be less expressive, to suppress their emotions, and thus be less nonverbally active in communication and more sporadic in their use of nonverbal cues. This builds on what I found in my observation. There were more women that I observed, but in total, there were more men who were alone. Actually, over half the men I observed, 29 out of 50, were alone, while 36 of the 102 females, I observed, were alone. That’s only 35 % co mpared to the 56% of men. What I Learned What I learned focused on men and women. With women, I learned that they interact more with females, than males, at the mall. I also learned that more middle age women go to the Market Place Mall than any other age group, according to my observation. With men, I learned that they interact more with females, then males, at the mall. I also learned that most men come alone to the mall, according to my observation. References Deaux, K., Major, B. (January 01, 1987). Putting gender into context: An interactive model of gender-related behavior. Psychological Review, 94, 3, 369-389 Hammersley, M. Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography: principles in practice. 2nd Ed. London: Routledge. Hampton, K., Gupta, N. (November, 13, 2008). Community and social interaction in the wireless city: Wi-Fi use in public and semi-public spaces. New Media Society, 10, 6, 831-850 Igarashi, T., Takai, J., Yoshida, T. (January 01, 2005). Gender differences in social network development via mobile phone text messages: A longitudinal study. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 5, 691-713. Knapp, M., Hall, J., Horgan, T. (2013). Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction (8 ed.). Cengage Learning. Suh, E. J., Moskowitz, D. S., Fournier, M. A., Zuroff, D. C. (2004). Gender and relationships: Influences on agentic and communal behaviors. Personal Relationships, 11(1), 41-60 Tannen, D. (1991). You just dont understand: Women and men in conversation (p. 113). London: Virago.

Free College Essays - The Virtue of Truth in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Scarlet Letter - The Virtue of Truth The virtue of truth and the evil of secret sin are clearly illustrated in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The three main characters in this novel display their own honesty and sins. Hester Prynne exhibits the essence of truth and pride when she bravely faces the humiliation of the scaffold. In chapter 17, when Hester apologizes to Dimmesdale about concealing Chillingworth’s identity, she says, â€Å"In all things else, I have striven to be true! Truth was the one virtue which I might have held, and did hold fast, through all extremity†¦A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side (pg. 202)!† It is Hester’s pride, which sustains her from the beginning of the novel to the end, when she dies, still sporting the scarlet A on her bosom. Hester’s sin is the sin which gives the book its title and around which the action of the book resolves. Adultery, which was prohibited by the Seventh Amendment, was usually punished by death. A woman in the crowd stated, â€Å"At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forhead†¦She may cover it (the scarlet letter) with a brooch, or such like heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever (pg. 53)!† Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale shows truth by his occupation. People living in Boston, Massachusetts looked up to and respected Dimmesdale because he was a minister. One of his sins was his inability to publicly acknowledge that he committed adultery with Hester and that he is the father of Pearl, Hester’s daughter. However, adultery was not his biggest sin. His biggest sin is hypocrisy. In chapter ten, he speaks of the concealment of his sins, he says, â€Å"It may be that they are kept silent by the very constistution of their nature. Or-can we not suppose it-guilty as they may be, retaining, nevertheless, a zeal for God’s glory and man’s welfare†¦no evil of the past be redeemed by better service (pg. 137).† While trying to conceal his sins, they take over his conscience and literally confess themselves during his acts of madness. The third main character, Roger Chillingworth, is a pretty innocent man in the beginning of this book. He comes to America to be reunited with his wife, Hester, but soon comes to find out that she has committed adultery.