In this paper, it will be shown that Bi-directional Optimality Theory (BOT) runs into problems of undergeneration when confronted with a certain class of partial-blocking phenomena. The empirical problem used to illustrate this is the cross-linguistic variation of one-step past-referring tenses. It will be argued that the well-known ‘present perfect puzzle’ is a sub-problem of it. The solution to the cross-linguistic variation of these tenses involves blocking of the marked tense. The relevant notion of ‘markedness’, while underivable synchronically, is argued to be linked to diachronic learning processes similar to those investigated by Benz (2006).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:Potsdam/oai:kobv.de-opus-ubp:3224 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Schaden, Gerhard |
| Publisher | Universität Potsdam, Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät. Institut für Linguistik / Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft |
| Source Sets | Potsdam University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/doku/urheberrecht.php |
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