Oldal 43 [43]
OPTIMALITY THEORY IN ANALYZING BILINGUAL USE
ranking of constraints is always based on empirical data and not on theoretical
specification and generative configuration. The empirical data are fed into
algorithmic models, into tableaux (Tableau 1). The constraints are arrayed in
columns in order of ranking with the higher-ranked constraints to the left of
the lower-ranked, and the candidates are arrayed in rows. The input is given
in the upper left-hand cell. The asterisks in each cell represent the number of
violations of that constraint in that candidate. The horizontal arrow points at
the optimal candidate — the actual output. The fatal violation is indicated with
an exclamation point after the asterisk.
Tableau 1: An illustration to OT’s algorithmic representation
Inputs Constraint X Constraint Y
=> (a) "
(b) "
1he interactions observed between the constraints activated by the competing
candidates in a particular speech production process are analyzed and summed
up in algorithmic tableaux. If a candidate which complies with constraint X
but violates constraint Y turns out to be the surface realization, then constraint
X must be a higher ranked constraint than constraint Y. The more empirical
data are provided, the more well-grounded is the ranking. However, setting
up an algorithmic computation model regarding the ranking of relevant
constraints in a particular speech production process does not require that
specific amounts of data are provided.
The constraints are always specific to the rules governing speech production
in a definite field of study. As OT was fundamentally meant to describe speech
production processes in phonology, the two most important constraints in
phonology are markedness and faithfulness. The constraint of faithfulness
requires that that the output candidate is identical in every regard to the input.
OPTIMALITY THEORY IN ANALYZING BILINGUAL USE:
A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO CODE-SWITCHING
Relying on the premise accepted in cross-linguistic research that code¬
switching is not an arbitrary choice of the speaker but there are certain rules or
“preferences” governing it, Bhatt adopted the OT framework to bilingual use to
describe the structural rules of code-switching’™. Relying on cross-linguistic
101 Rakesh M. Bhatt, Code-switching, constraints, and optimal grammars, Lingua, 102 (1997),
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