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Doing Optimality Theory brings together examples and practical, detailed advice for undergraduates and graduate students working in linguistics. Given that the basic premises of Optimality Theory are markedly different from other linguistic theories, this book presents the analytic techniques and new ways of thinking and theorizing that are required. Explains how to do analysis and research using Optimality Theory (OT) - a branch of phonology that has revolutionized the field since its conception in 1993 Offers practical, in-depth advice for students and researchers in the field, presented in an engaging way Features numerous examples, questions, and exercises throughout, all helping to illustrate the theory and summarize the core concepts of OT Written by John J. McCarthy, one of the theory’s leading proponents and an instrumental figure in the dissemination and use of OT today An ideal guide through the intricacies of linguistic analysis and research for beginning researchers, and, by example, one which will lead the way to future developments in the field.

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Recursive Constraint Demotion (RCD) is introduced, and with it, the basic concepts of OT ranking theory. RCD is an efficient method for obtaining rankings from data, with the added bonus that it identifies those cases where no successful ranking exists (Tesar \& Smolensky 1993, Tesar 1995). RCD is treated here as a method of organizing a tableau, which makes its workings transparent and easy to follow. We start from an unordered display of ranking information and step-by-step rearrange it into an ordered, stratified ranking. The exposition can be accessed at various levels, ranging from the basic visual grok to detailed consideration of the underlying principles. An effort has been made to define all terms and to comment on points of interest in internally hyperlinked notes. Some discussion of the foundational work by Tesar, Smolensky, and Prince is provided, with links to the the original sources. No knowledge of OT is presupposed, but a certain amount of prior exposure will probably smooth the way. The file is an Excel workbook, which comes in three formats, listed as Parts below: Part 1, Excel 2003 (PC); Part 2, Mac Excel 2004; Part 3, Excel 2007 and later (PC). There are no macros in these files.

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