14 May 1998

Opacity = Turbidity + Myopia

Matt Goldrick & Paul Smolensky

Johns Hopkins University

An informal discussion of the prospects for analyzing 'opacity' effects in phonology as the expected consequence under Optimality Theory of 'turbid' representations in which structural PARSE constraints are violated and constraints are 'myopic' with respect to the difference between pronounced and unpronounced material. A preliminary turbid analysis will be presented of Tunica deletion-counter-bleeds-harmony opacity.