Bill,

Last I looked, the gist of Optimality Theory was as follows: A language
has a set of ranked constraints which tell which structures are optimal.
For any given structure (in any module of language), there might be
numerous possible surface forms. The one which violates the fewest
constraints will 'win' and be the actual form. There are, of course,
fancy details and formulae and notation, but this is the gist.
 
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Johanna Rubba   Associate Professor, Linguistics 
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
One Grand Avenue  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 
Tel. (805)-756-2184  •  Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone.  756-2596
• E-mail: [log in to unmask] •      Home page: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
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