Syllable parsing in English and French

Abstract

In this paper I argue that Optimality Theory provides for an explanatory model of syllabic parsing in English and French. The argument is based on psycholinguistic facts that have been mysterious up to now. This argument is further buttressed by the computational implementation developed here. This model is important for several reasons. First, it provides a demonstration of how OT can be used in a performance domain. Second, it suggests a new relationship between phonological theory and psycholinguistics. (Code in Perl is included and a WWW-interface is running at http://mayo.douglass.arizona.edu.)