1 An Optimality Theory Account of Phonological

Abstract: The kind of variation typically exhibited by speakers of creole languages— which is somewhat unique in that it is structured with respect to other natural languages, namely the superstrate and substrate languages—has long represented a challenge to traditional grammatical theory (Rickford 1980). In this paper, I argue that by employing the same methods used to describe phonological variation in other natural languages, we can account for phonological variation in creoles. This study presents a Stochastic Optimality Theory analysis of free variation among stops and fricatives in Kimberley Kriol, a creole language spoken in the Kimberley region of Australia. In the paper, I compare three different models of phonological variation in Kimberley Kriol that I ran through Praat’s Stochastic OT learning algorithm; these three models use individual lexical items (Trial 1), individual phonemes (Trial 2), and natural classes (Trial 3) as their respective inputs. The frequencies of specific phonological variants predicted by Praat’s learned grammar more closely resembled the actual frequencies observed in the data as the inputs became more abstract across the trials. These results suggest that the most abstract model, Trial 3, is the most accurate and effective way to represent phonological variation in Kimberley Kriol.