Accent and Focus in Ot: a Cross–linguistic Perspective

Patterns of accent placement show cross-linguistic variation. In this thesis I will present a formal account of this variation within an Optimality Theoretic (OT) framework. Following a suggestion in Schwarzschild (1999), I will propose that accent pattern is determined by a grammatical principle (roughly: stress the most embedded constituent) which in English, but not in Italian can be overruled by competing pragmatic principles. This idea presupposes the general theoretical framework of OT. I will try to implement this idea in two different constraint-based accounts of accent placement: one based on Givenness by Schwarzschild (1999), and a BiOT account described in Aloni et al. (2005). As I will show, Schwarzschild’s approach, well equipped for English, due to its hybrid constraints is not adequate for cross-linguistic variation. Aloni et al.’s account however, in which structural and pragmatic constraints are clearly distinguished, proves to be more flexible and can be extended to account for cross-linguistic differences.