Optimality Theory

Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar

Alan Prince author Paul Smolensky author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Published:2nd Aug '04

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Optimality Theory cover

This book is the final version of the widely-circulated 1993 Technical Report that introduces a conception of grammar in which well-formedness is defined as optimality with respect to a ranked set of universal constraints.


  • Final version of the widely circulated 1993 Technical Report that was the seminal work in Optimality Theory, never before available in book format.
  • Serves as an excellent introduction to the principles and practice of Optimality Theory.
  • Offers proposals and analytic commentary that suggest many directions for further development for the professional.

“This is a very important book. Optimality Theory has transformed the field of linguistics more than almost any other development of the past half-century, and Prince and Smolensky started it all.” John J. McCarthy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst


"OT does not need to permanently influence linguistic theory: it has already done so. Between 1993 and 2004, Prince and Smolensky’s Optimality Theory was by far the most widely circulated manuscript among phonologists. Fortunately, it is now available for a larger audience in this text edition." René Kager, Utrecht University

ISBN: 9781405119320

Dimensions: 254mm x 179mm x 28mm

Weight: 680g

304 pages