Optimality Theory and Sound Change

Since Kiparsky (1968) it has been standard practice in generative phonology to account for sound change by means of rule addition, rule simplification, rule reordering and rule loss. Given that the phonological rule as such no longer exists in recently proposed constraint-based theories of phonology, such as Optimality Theory (cf. Prince and Smolensky (1993), McCarthy and Prince (1993a and b), the question arises how sound change must be accounted for in these theories. In this paper we will address this issue. It will be claimed that in Optimality Theory, sound change can straightforwardly be accounted for by constraint reranking. This will be illustrated by two examples of sound change in the historical phonology of French. The first example involves a change in the syllable structure conditions that occurred between Gallo-Romance (5th-9th century) and Old French (11th/12th century), the second example involves the loss of the possibility to phonologically encliticize an unstressed object pronoun to a preceding stressed element (phonological enclisis). The formal account of both cases relies on a reordering of Alignment constraints. This paper purports to show not only that sound change can be analyzed as constraint-reranking (an expected result), but also that the analyses proposed are not thwarted by the same drawbacks of previous derivational nonlinear accounts. Finally, we will raise the issue of how to account for markedness and unmarkedness in sound change.The definitive version of this paper was published in NELS 25: Proceedings of the North East Linguistics Society and is available at http://glsa.hypermart.netJacobs, H. (1995). Optimality theory and sound change. In J.N. Beckman (Ed.), NELS 25: Proceedings of the North East Linguistics Society (pp. 219-232). Amherst, MA: GLSA (Graduate Linguistic Student Association), Dept. of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts