The contrastive hierarchy in phonology 2009 Dresher.pdf - CUNY ...

In (6.31), these constraints are added at the bottom of the constraint
hierarchy. As observed in the previous note, different rankings of the
markedness constraints yield somewhat different results.
6.8. Summary
In this chapter I have argued that OT is not itself a theory of contrast in
competition with the Contrastivist Hypothesis or the contrastive hierarchy.
Rather, OT can incorporate various theories of contrast. Though it is true that
some approach to contrast will inevitably ‘emerge’ from any OT constraint
hierarchy, the empirical question is what theories of contrast are allowed to occur
in phonology. If, for example, the Contrastivist Hypothesis as implemented by
the SDA operating on a contrastive feature hierarchy is the correct theory, then
OT should be constrained to implement that theory.
I have shown how OT with different strata (serial, or derivational OT) can
incorporate the contrastive hierarchy by modelling the SDA. In OT with multiple
strata, the constraints corresponding to the SDA can be segregated from the rest
of the phonology; the output of these constraints create well-formed contrastive
specifications that serve as the input to the phonology proper.
Whether the Contrastivist Hypothesis can be incorporated into a
monostratal version of OT is a more difficult question. Such a grammar does not
make available a level at which only contrastive feature specifications are visible,
and constraints implementing the SDA cannot be kept separate from the other
constraints. Moreover, there are problems with requiring that phonemes be
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