Introduction

Optimality Theory (OT; Prince and Smolensky 2004) is a radical departure from the derivational model of previous versions of generative phonology. Any new theory puts old questions into a new light, and it is illuminating to explore the relationship between OT and the Contrastivist Hypothesis. I will show that the contrastive hierarchy, being a static set of conditions, lends itself very easily to formulation in terms of a set of constraints, and hence to OT. At the same time, I will argue that OT is not itself a theory of contrast, but is capable of instantiating a wide range of such theories.

The relationship between OT and the Contrastivist Hypothesis is more complex. It appears that the insights of a contrastivist approach can best be captured in a serial (derivational) model of OT in which some of the restrictions of the standard parallel version are relaxed.

I will begin with a brief review of the essentials of OT (section 6.2), and then I will present some early treatments of contrast within OT(section 6.3). I will consider how the contrastive hierarchy might be incorporated into OT in section 6.4. Related issues are discussed in sections 6.5–6.7. Dispersion-theoretic approaches to contrast developed within OT are considered in section 8.4.

Optimality Theory

OT (Prince and Smolensky 2004, first published 1993) is a theory of constraint interaction that posits violable ordered constraints. For example, to account for the universal preference for syllables to have onsets and to avoid codas, Prince and Smolensky posit the constraints in (1).