Phonology
In a course at the LSA summer institute in 1991, Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky developed optimality theory--an overall architecture for phonology according to which languages choose a pronunciation of a word that best satisfies a list of constraints ordered by importance; a lower-ranked constraint can be violated when the violation is necessary in order to obey a higher-ranked constraint. The approach was soon extended to morphology by John McCarthy and Alan Prince, and has become a dominant trend in phonology. The appeal to phonetic grounding of constraints and representational elements (e.g. features) in various approaches has been criticized by proponents of 'substance-free phonology', especially Mark Hale and Charles Reiss.
Who were prominent critics of optimality theory?
Mark Hale and Charles Reiss
features) in various approaches has been criticized by proponents of 'substance-free phonology', especially Mark Hale and Charles Reiss.
optimality theory