Is the Best Good Enough: Optimality and Competition in Syntax

Recent developments in linguistic theory have led to a reconsideration of the role of optimality in the architecture of grammar. Recent developments in linguistic theory have led to a reconsideration of the role of optimality in the overall architecture of the grammar. Emerging from this research is the idea that different components of the grammar interact to yield the best choice from a set of candidate derivations. This idea departs from traditional approaches to the output of linguistic levels in generative grammar, in which rules, principles, and constraints interact to determine the grammatical status of each linguistic object independent of the status of possible competitors. In the past five years, interest in the linguistic role of optimality has been sparked by the sharpened notions of economy” in Chomsky’s Minimalist Program and by Prince and Smolensky’s Optimality Theory