Phonology limited

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Phonology Limited explores the challenges in applying optimality theory (OT) to phonology, particularly where interactions extend beyond faithfulness and markedness. It presents evidence from diverse languages, suggesting that language-specific morphological constraints are more effective than universal phonological constraints in these analyses. While OT has been a valuable framework in linguistics, it faces criticism, particularly regarding opacity—situations where the output appears to violate more constraints than a competing ungrammatical form. The book argues that these issues can be resolved by incorporating language-specific morphological constraints. For instance, processes in Tiberian Hebrew, previously deemed opaque, are shown to be transparent when analyzed with constraints like syllabic trochees or paradigm uniformity. Additionally, it examines allomorphy, where a lexeme may have multiple inputs, with the constraint hierarchy determining grammaticality in context. The analysis of initial consonant mutations in modern Celtic languages suggests that these forms are distinct inputs governed by morphological and syntactic constraints. Lastly, it addresses static irregularities in American English, revealing that while some vowel distributions follow predictable patterns, exceptions arise due to output-output faithfulness constraints that attract words into specific patterns, even if they initially adhere to general ph