The generation of categorical and variable phonological patterns in Optimality Theory: evidence from Spanish

Abstract

The aim of this work is to present an overview of the main approaches to phonological variation, both categorical and optional, that have been put forward within Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky, 2004). There are other overviews in the literature (e.g. Anttila, 2007), but the present discussion focuses on the phenomena found in the weakening processes that fi nal consonants exhibit in Spanish. Special attention is paid to the behavior of the sibilant /s/ because there are many qualitative and quantitative studies that thoroughly describe its weakening in the zones where this phenomenon occurs.